Number Nine
by fermataoso
Summary: Galinda makes a little potion.
1. Potion

Galinda was tired of this. Fiyero flirted with her roommate, and she was sure Elphie wanted to flirt with Fiyero if she weren't so…Elphaba. Yet for ages nothing had ever happened. This would be fine with the perky blonde if her friend was of a more normal variety, seeking to dissect every glance, giggle and word with her, but unfortunately, dear Elphie was her own unique person. Galinda pouted. It was no fun to know that they liked each other if they wouldn't admit it enough to gossip about it with her. Unless…she could play matchmaker!

Flipping through the pages of her magazine, she saw a giant ad for a perfume called Love Potion Number 9. Suddenly an evil plan was forming in her brain. Evil, yet fantastic. A perfume would never work, and she was pretty certain that any love potion she attempted to make would backfire. However, perhaps…

She gathered some herbs, dyes and fizzy soda water, storing it in the fridge. Giggling at her own impressive scheming, she went in search of her victims.

Finding Fiyero with his friends in the cafeteria, she sauntered over. After all, some of his friends were almost as cute as he was. It really was too bad that they hadn't worked out. Anyway, batting her eyelashes for the benefit of his adorable friend to the left, she smiled coyly. "Fiyero, could you help me after school with something? It's very heavy, and I know only you could lift it."

His cute friend begged to differ, offering his services, and smiling sweetly, she accepted before she remembered the whole plan. Oops. Elphie was lucky she was so goodly. She flirted appropriately with the boy, asking if perhaps he could come by after dinner, to which of course he offered to take her. Waving goodbye to her date, she stuck by Fiyero's side on his way to class.

"Actually Fiyero, I do still need your help right after school. Well, really, it's Elphie who does; she just doesn't want to admit it."

From the immediate interest and eager look on his face, she knew she had him now. "Oh, really? Elphie needs something? What is it?"

She bit her lip, trying to think of something convincing. Elphie would never need help with any homework or consent to anyone lending strength because of his gender…what could she need help with? From Fiyero? "Well, she was saying how she wanted to learn to dance, you know the proper way (her memory flashing back to the mortifying dance at the Ozdust), but of course I can't teach her. How could we dance together? We're both girls." As if he didn't know. She giggled anyway, stalling for time. "Anyway, um, since you're so good at dancing, I thought maybe you could offer to teach her."

The thought of dancing with Elphaba, holding her close as their bodies swayed together, was almost visible on his face. "Yeah, sure." The casual tone was forced, and Galinda had to fight not to clap her hands together.

"Oh. And we should probably be subtle about it. You know, so you don't embarrass her. I don't know if I was supposed to tell anyone…" about this imaginary conversation she'd had with her. This could get tricky. Lucky, he was already hooked, and he nodded absentmindedly, thoughts already on his future dance session. Smiling wickedly, she withdrew to plant the seed in Elphie next.

She found Elphie where she expected to, surrounded by books rather than cute boys in the dreaded library. That place was so depressing. You couldn't even talk properly without everyone shushing you constantly. She rolled her eyes, ignoring the one that had shushed her for clicking her heels on the ground too loudly.

"Hey Elphie." The shushing was enormous, but she ignored it. Elphaba looked up dismissively and returned to her book. "Elphie? Elphaba!" A loud chorus of shushes followed that, but Elphaba looked up at her expectantly. "What are you doing after class? – Oh shut up! You're making just as much noise as I am!" The shushers turned away haughtily at her rebuke, but Elphaba smiled.

"I don't know, why?"

Elphie was much easier, as Galinda often needed her help. "Could you help me with this homework? It's been really difficult for me."

"Well, if you actually listened once in a while in class, you might grasp the subject a little better, but of course. Meet me here at 4:30."

"No, it needs to be in our room." At Elphaba's suspicious look, she thought quickly, "I have a date I need to get ready for."

"How am I supposed to help you with your homework if you're getting ready for a date?"

"Oh, well, you know…" Think, think, think. "I just don't want to run late here since I'm so dense. At home I can keep track of time better." She smiled charmingly and perhaps a little desperately. Just say okay. She couldn't think of any more excuses.

Elphaba sighed, "Fine. But you have to actually focus. Deal?"

"Deal!" She grinned broadly.

Bouncing up, she clicked away. As she left, she heard one of the onlookers whisper "Thank goodness!" to his friend.

Turning around, she hissed her best "Shhhh! Don't you know you're supposed to be quiet in the library?" Shaking her head, she walked away to prepare for her busy afternoon.

Elphaba came home, and Galinda tried her hardest to pay attention. It was so difficult when her brain was on the potion chilling in the fridge. After an eternity filled with the dullest homework she had ever had to face, finally Fiyero knocked at the door. "Hmm, I wonder who that is? I'd better see….Oh it's Fiyero!" She announced. She thought perhaps she had overacted just a smidge on that. She would have to be more focused. Luckily Elphaba was too busy blushing and trying to pretend she didn't care it was Fiyero to notice. Galinda invited him in and made some excuse about getting ready for her date.

She peeked in the mirror as Fiyero walked over to Elphie. "Hey."

An unnaturally cold response came: "Hey."

"So, I was wondering…" his eyes flicked involuntarily to Galinda for help, and she subtly waved her hands for him to continue. "I was wondering if you would like to learn to dance."

Elphie glared at him viciously as if he'd offered to poison her. "Dance? Not a chance."

"Is that a poem?" he teased her rhyme, but she didn't find it funny. In Elphaba's defense, that had been pretty lame, but he wasn't on top of his game with her shooting those infamous icy stares at him. Poor Fiyero. His only mistake had been to be her crush, and nothing he did now could avoid the barbarous looks she sent him.

Galinda intervened. "Oh Fiyero, I'm glad you're here actually." She shot him an understanding look. "Would you try this for me? You too Elphie. Let me know what you think. I made it myself." She handed them the bubbly drinks from the fridge. "I'm going to enter a contest in the Ozmopolitan Weekly."

Fiyero agreed easily, but Elphaba was suspicious. "What's in it?"

"Oh, I can't give away my secret recipe!"

"Then how will you enter the contest?" Why did Elphaba have to be so bright?

"Um…," nothing came to mind, so she resorted to, "Elphie, please? For me?" She pouted, and had Elphie been a boy, it would have worked like a charm. As it was, the tall girl shook her head distrustfully.

Fiyero was her hero, giving her roommate an appraising look. "I thought you were brave."

She rose to the challenge beautifully, grabbing the glass out of Galinda's hand and chugging the entire drink in one giant gulp. Fiyero matched her gesture with similar defiance, though Galinda recognized the flirting behind both of their posturing.

1…2….3….

Elphaba turned greener, if that were possible. "I think I'm going to be sick." She ran for the bathroom, while Fiyero held his mouth searching for a suitable alternative. Settling on the trashcan, he threw up almost synchronously with Elphie.

"What was in that thing?" Elphaba demanded, rinsing her mouth frantically in the bathroom.

"Oh, just a little love potion. So kiss and make up now. Ooh! That's my date. Goodnight!" She breezed out before either of them could throttle her, locking the door and barricading it from the outside. Cute Friend looked confused, but she merely smiled sweetly. "Ready?" She ignored the pounding on the door as her victims sought to escape.

This time she would demand stories when she returned or she would not release them. Pleased with a good day's work, she enjoyed her date.


	2. Self Control

Elphaba's eyes widened. "What did she say?" Fear apparent, she glanced anxiously at Fiyero.

He groaned, coming to the bathroom. "I don't know but pass the mouthwash. That was the grossest thing I've ever tasted." She nodded, and they cleaned the taste out in silence. When he passed it back to her, their hands touched momentarily, and she felt an eruption of butterflies in her stomach. Oh no. It was already starting.

She fled the bathroom, tugging on the door to the hallway. "It's stuck. Fiyero, come help me."

He came out, helping her pull in a futile attempt to loosen the door. Pounding on it, he called to Galinda to release them. "This isn't funny! Let us out!"

Elphaba backed away, realizing her plight. If she didn't die of embarrassment by the time Galinda returned, the little meddling blond was so dead. She was starting to get more than a little panicked. Looking around frantically, she tried to think of a suitable plan to prevent the worst of the humiliation. She ran to the bathroom to lock herself inside it, only to discover the lock had been broken. The closet had no locks, and she didn't see any other escape. Desperate, she fought the urge to hyperventilate from the sudden claustrophobia, shouting, "We have to get out of here!"

Fiyero was surprised by her terror. "Elphaba? Are you alright?"

He took a couple steps toward her, only to have her scream, "Stay away from me!" Frozen in spot, his eyes shifted left to right as if to discover what had brought this highly irrational reaction from her.

"Oh…kay…" he was eying her warily, as if she were rabidly foaming at the mouth.

Forcing herself to calm down a little, she said, "Galinda poisoned us with a love potion." His eyes narrowed skeptically, so she continued, "And then locked us in here. Together. Oz, why can't she just leave things alone?!" She buried her face in her hands, terrified at what might happen in their highly potioned states.

His reaction to the news was quite different than Elphaba's. Whereas she was immediately petrified and furious, he was surprisingly calm. "Ok, wait. Galinda…(he looked at her, at the door and at the empty glasses where they had dropped them)…I see." He nodded understandingly, as if she had told him Galinda had maxed out a credit card, like it was just a normal occurrence.

"Fiyero. You do realize what this means, right?" Not that she was doubting his intelligence…just that she was doubting his intelligence.

He shrugged, unperturbed. "Yeah. You're not responsible for anything you do, and vice versa. Somehow we just have to survive until either she returns or the potion wears off. It'll be fine." He made it sound so simple. Already she felt a strong desire to pull his arms around her. Perhaps this was a normal, everyday incident for him with no reason for alarm, but it was a terrifying new dilemma for her.

He came to sit on her bed next to her, and she scooted away like a frightened animal. "Elphaba. Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." She huddled on the opposite side of the bed, watching him with suspicion.

He looked at her earnestly. "What are you so frightened of? I mean, you know me. What's the worst that could happen?" He patted the bed next to him expectantly.

She approached nervously, poised for flight, and sighing at the irritation of it all. It was worse because it was Fiyero. If it were Boq, or horrible Avaric, or some nameless person, at least she could avoid them forever after they escaped. Fiyero mattered, and he wouldn't go away even if she pushed her hardest. She would have to die of shame every day for the rest of her life. "I just…don't want you to see me like that."

He looked a little hurt. "You think I'd make fun of you?"

Guiltily, she said, "Of course not." Not now that she really thought about it at least.

"Then?"

"Your opinion matters to me," she mumbled. They had been friends comfortably for so long now, and each day they had grown a little closer. Now he meant more to her than she'd admit to anyone. If he found out how she really felt, the results would be disastrous.

He took her hand in his, and again the butterflies swarmed in her. "Your opinion matters to me, too. We'll get through this."

She smiled a little, daring to hope perhaps it would be alright. "Ok."

His thumb rubbed hers as he still held her hand. "See, it's not so bad. If Galinda made it, how strong can it really be?"

She chuckled a little at that and started to relax in spite of herself. Sitting beside him awkwardly, several nervous moments stretched past. "So, what do we do until she gets back?"

He winked flirtatiously, "Well, I can think of a few things." When her eyes widened in fear again, he added sheepishly, "Kidding. I couldn't help myself."

Fiyero's expression softened. He brushed her cheek with his other hand, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "Look, I know you're scared, but it really is alright. You're my friend. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you." She smiled, knowing the truth of that statement. He hadn't stopped touching her, and in fact if anything, he had increased the scope of the gesture, now running his fingers through her hair with an admiring look on his face. "You know, you have really beautiful hair."

She blushed. "That's just the potion talking." After a second's hesitation, he continued the caresses, now wandering to her eyelids, forehead, and neck. She was completely under his spell. Before she caught herself, she dropped a kiss on his palm as it passed by.

Immediately she caught her mistake, stiffening beside him. Swallowing with some difficulty, she froze like a deer in the headlights. His hands on her upper arms now, he pulled her closer, leaning toward her as his lips drew inch by inch nearer. She felt her breath catch, but she couldn't turn away.

Suddenly, he released her and pulled back, and a wave of disappointment crashed through her. "Sorry," his voice was low. She licked her lips nervously, afraid to speak, and he retreated to the window. Watching him with wide eyes, she could still feel the trails of touch he had left like phantom fingers continuing their seduction. Shivering slightly, she also turned away, hoping to catch her breath. The room seemed hotter, but perhaps that was merely an effect of the potion.

Confessing softly from his position of safety, he whispered, "I really want to kiss you."

She felt so breathless. It was no more than she already knew, but to hear him say it… "I want you to." Her confession was even softer, stolen from her lips.

After several long moments of silence, he came back to her, suddenly convinced of something. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way."

She looked at him questioning, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, see, I think part of the allure is the mystery, you know?" She nodded uncertainly. "So if we were to take away the mystery, we would take away the temptation. I mean, it can't be all that we're building it up to be, you know?" She bit her lip. This didn't seem like a good plan, but who was she to criticize Fiyero in the arena of kissing? She was certainly no expert compared to him. Her eyes wandered to his lips, lips she could be kissing. When would she ever get a chance like this again?

She nodded again, consenting to this crazy plan. As he lifted her face to him with both hands, her hands came to rest on his elbows, a neutral enough location she supposed. His lips were soft and warm, and though the kiss was very gentle and chaste, she felt her heartbeat thudding painfully in her chest. His lips didn't even fully leave hers before starting another soft kiss, and another, and another. She lost count, feeling very swept away by the amazing sensation.

When he finally did pull back, he took a deep breath, still holding her face, and his thumbs traced her lips that were lonely with his absence. "Ok, that was definitely a bad idea." She nodded, eyes still focused on his lips. What had she been thinking, following a plan designed by Fiyero, and in an intoxicated state?

He haltingly bent to brush her lips again, before pulling quickly away, loosening his shirt collar as he retreated back to the window. She let out the breath she had been holding with a big sigh. This was going to be harder than they thought. He struggled to regain himself, saying, "I don't know about you, but I think that was actually better than I was building it up to be." Again, she was struck mute, nodding dazedly. His eyes wandered over her. "I mean, that was just…completely incredible."

The electricity in the air was almost palpable, and before she knew it, she had crossed the room to stand beside him. Fiyero seemed slightly alarmed to see her closing in. Setting her chin with determination, she advanced on him.

"This is ridiculous. We don't have to stand on opposite sides of the room. Surely we can behave ourselves."

She could be strong. She had self control. She was…kissing him suddenly, lips pulled to his, hands clutching around his neck while his circled her waist, crushing her to him. This kiss was not so chaste, liquid fire pouring into her veins from this agonizing pleasure. She felt so drastically out of control, in a wonderful blissful way.

His hand on her back now pushed her firmly against him, and he devoured her lips, catching one between his teeth to elicit a quick gasp from her. She kept meaning to protest, but she couldn't break herself away from him long enough to do so. It would have been only half-hearted as best. His tongue darted into her mouth, massaging hers in a sensuous dance. She melted against him, her body losing all its bones and muscles at this intense feeling.

By the time they parted, she could barely remember her name. She was panting, clutching his shirt to remain standing, and with some resolve she made it to the bed before collapsing. "Wow." He echoed her, following her to the bed, and she entertained some very generous thoughts on Galinda's behalf.

She pulled him back to her. Self-control was over-rated.


	3. Trust

Fiyero was certain this was what heaven and hell must be like, beautiful pleasure and the excruciating torture of trying to deny it. Elphaba lay beside him, so trusting, so beautiful. Her eyes had been so filled with wonder at those first few tender kisses, he wondered if she'd ever been kissed before. Shaking his head, he dismissed his thoughts as arrogance, a belief that only he could get through the walls to her heart. It was a happy daydream at least.

She murmured a soft sigh as his fingers traced light patterns on her skin, and he found himself wondering how beautiful she would look with fewer clothes. When she opened her eyes, the innocent trust clearly present there made him feel suddenly very guilty.

He pulled back and smiled down at her, eyes traveling over her lanky form. He didn't need the potion to find her attractive, and with it amplifying her already addictive pull on him, he wanted her so much it was suffocating. Solemnly, he breathed, "How you tempt me."

The smoky look in his eyes must have lighted her own desire for him, and she sat up to straddle him. He knew she was crazy now. There was no way she'd ever do this sober. She locked her arms around his neck and leaned heavily into him to whisper sultrily, "Do I?"

He pulled her against him more tightly, lips feverish in their need for hers. "Elphaba, you shouldn't tease that way." He whispered threateningly, fingers curling against her with desperate yearning, and their hearts pounded so he could almost feel it in the air. She arched her body into his, and he groaned, begging her, "For Oz's sake, I'm just a guy. Have a little pity."

She shook her head now, the effects of the potion obviously reaching full force now. She let her lips trace their way down his neck, and his eyes closed to immerse himself in her exploration. She was thorough, meticulous, exhaustingly sexy. He felt himself more aroused than he had been even partly through copulation before. Exhibiting her talent for such things, she sucked on his earlobe gently, making him clutch her so tightly he was afraid she would bruise.

She was intoxicating. She was exhilarating. She was enslaving. She was quickly improving his vocabulary.

He stood up with her legs still wrapped around him, holding her to him and leaning her into the wall for better leverage. Kissing her deeply now, he braced her against the wall by pushing himself more firmly against her, loving the soft moan that escaped those perfect lips. His lips began their own exploration, holding her captive to writhe against him most gratifyingly. Her body was tight beneath him, coiled muscles ready to spring. He was secure in his knowledge of seduction, and with this girl, he wanted her to feel every kind of pleasure it was possible for her to feel.

He wanted to touch her.

Crashing back to the bed, he began a new investigation of this mysterious creature. He ran his hands over her neck, her newly-exposed midriff, her still-clothed sides, underneath her to her back. His hands found her foot, amazing pretty for a foot, and aided by his lips continued up her delicate ankle…lean, shapely calf…well-formed knee…across her lower thigh…her lean upper thigh…oh he would explode if he went any further up that soft, supple skin. Her skirt was approaching her hips as it was, and he realized that if she were in her right mind, there was no way she would consent.

Hating it, he pulled back, fighting his hormones for control. She trusted him. He couldn't take advantage of her like that. She would never forgive him, and more so he would never forgive himself. She would probably never speak to him again as it was, but he couldn't live with himself if he hurt her like that.

Gasping, he tried to think of baseball statistics, past Ozmas, dead puppies, anything to pull him back from the brink he felt approaching.

She seemed surprised by his sudden escape, leaning up to stare at him curiously, suddenly afraid she had misinterpreted. He almost laughed sardonically. Only Elphaba could do all that and think he wasn't interested in her. "What's wrong? Fiyero?" He couldn't look at her for fear of ravishing her immediately.

He had no delusions that they would leave here without incident; now it was just a matter of degree. The consequences seemed so far away, but that fear proved how much this would hurt her later. She would never believe that he wanted her without the potion. His fingers played over her lightly as he watched her tenderly.

She lifted her lips for another earth-shattering kiss, and he pulled back with difficulty. "Elphaba, I…" he trailed off, not certain how to finish.

She nodded tersely, sitting up. "It's ok. You don't have to explain. I understand." She moved to get up, fighting the tears burning in her eyes, but he pulled her beside him again, wrapping his arms securely around her as they lay back together.

"No. You don't." Frustration in his voice, he continued, "You seriously think I don't want you? Are you crazy? Look at you! Of course I want you. I want you so badly I…" he lost his train of thought as she shifted, her collarbone peeking through the top of her shirt. "So badly I…" his eyes were fixated on her neck. Leaning down, he brushed his lips against her, then abruptly pulled away again, and this time he knew better than to look at her. "But see, this is the problem. I want you so badly I don't know if I _can_ behave, especially with that damned potion doing Oz knows what!"

Her arms wrapped around him from behind, and before he could stop himself, he pulled her fingers to his mouth, kissing them sensuously. She taunted coyly, "Didn't you say it wasn't nice to tease that way?" She laughed as she found his neck, echoing his caresses.

His voice was so throaty it was almost foreign to him. "Elphaba. You mean too much to me for this. You're not thinking straight. I can't…"

She interrupted him, fingers finding the buttons to his shirt. "So what if I'm not thinking clearly? All I ever do is think. This is _so_ much better than thinking." She pushed his shirt off his shoulders, and he knew it was a lost cause. If she wanted him, honestly she could have him. He would fight it, but he could never resist that sexy temptress hiding in her beautiful, intelligent eyes.

Her hands ran over his bare chest, and he lost himself in the tickling of her long hair brushing against him. He had forgotten to breathe until his body took control of the situation, sucking a loud breath in as she scratched her nails lightly against his chest. "Oh my God! Elphaba…you have…to stop…right…now!" Each word was punctuated by a gasp at her escalating temptation, ending when she bit lightly at his neck, making waves of ecstasy shoot through his entire body. How did she do that?

Helplessly, he felt a savage need to take her, feel her, have her…all of her. He was dying from the strain of holding back, and he knew any longer and he would be too weak to resist for either of them. Pushing her away as gently as he could, he gathered himself to walk away. She could not be held accountable for her actions, intoxicated by the potion as he was by her miraculous touch. He would do the right thing, for her, even if he desperately wanted to do the wrong one.

And he did want to desperately.

She had stood up, unwilling to release her prey, and he circled the room to keep her at bay. Unwisely walking backwards, he tripped and fell back against Galinda's bed. Elphaba pounced, wrapping her fingers in his hair. The weight of her on him was divine. But it was her soft voice, soothing and dripping with honey, "Fiyero. Don't you want me to be happy?" He froze, uncertain how to answer this. His brain was so busy occupied in maintaining his tenuous control that it couldn't process this fast enough.

"Don't you want me to have what I want?" Fingers played over his chest, keeping his brain occupied elsewhere. He nodded reluctantly. Oh, did he ever. "And do you know what I want?" Again that smoky, honey-filled voice threatened to undo him. "I want you."

The last resistance fell away at her utterance of his long-held fantasy. He had long been hers to have if she wanted him, and the words had come from her own ambrosia lips. Attacking her with resolve to earn her desire, he kissed her deeply, returning them to her bed. He pressed his hips into her, lips pulling at her own, hands grasping her desperately. He began to remove her blouse when he heard the scraping sound, seeming far away to his brain that was tunneled into the beautiful girl beneath him. Then he heard the key in the latch, and instinctively rolled off her.

Struggling to regain thought and breathing control, he pulled a blanket over them so Elphaba could have a chance to button her shirt back up. His libido cursed Galinda for her timing, but his conscience blessed her. Now, where had she thrown his shirt?

Galinda walked in giggly, his friend Tobiq pulled behind her. She kissed him deeply, turning to lead him to a nice long make-out session based on their behavior. Fiyero cleared his throat to prevent any extreme embarrassment before remembering his current state in connection with Elphaba's. Galinda looked up, confused at first until she remembered her little prank. Clapping her hands together, she exclaimed, "Oh it worked!"

The evil looks directed from her best friends bounced right off her. Tobiq followed Fiyero's eyes, and tossed him the shirt lying discarded on Galinda's bed. He felt embarrassed for Elphaba, knowing she probably was mortified right now. He personally was too busy still fighting himself not to rip her clothes off even in front of these new witnesses.

She squirmed uneasily beside him, obviously wanting to regain a more dignified position, but he was unwilling to release their recent euphoria quite yet. Pulling her to lean back into his arms, he dropped a soft kiss on her cheek, whispering, "Promise me you'll talk about this later?" She nodded grudgingly, and he released her regretfully. Pulling his shirt on, he rose from the bed.

He fought himself not to kiss her goodbye, instead kissing her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." They would talk then if it killed him. He left with Tobiq, trying not to think how much better his dreams would be tonight.


	4. Gazebo

Galinda settled herself on her bed with a grin, waiting expectantly. Elphaba huffed angrily, and unceremoniously turned over. After a second, Galinda realized her roommate was not going to volunteer any information, the blond pouted. "Well aren't you going to say anything?" 

"Like what?" Elphaba growled.

Galinda stood, hands on her hip and head tilted to the side to show the most attitude that was allowable while still considered perky. "Like, I don't know,_thank you_?"

Elphaba flipped over at that, scowling at her. "Are you serious? You want me to thank you for poisoning me? You really are mentally unstable."

"You did just spend a romantic evening with Fiyero, didn't you?" And Elphaba was supposed to be the smart one. Galinda shook her head in chastisement, clucking her tongue.

Disgusted, Elphaba snorted derisively, "What is wrong with you?"

"Me? What's wrong with you? It would have taken you years to break the stalemate. You probably still didn't even tell him you really liked him, did you?" If Elphaba wouldn't indulge her in a little girl talk, Galinda would just have to trick the information out of her.

The guilty flash across her friend's face was answer enough. "You had no right to interfere."

"What's the big deal? It got you guys together, right?" She was indignant that Elphie was so determined to hold on to that teensy little trick when she could instead have been reveling in the encounter in all its juicy detail. So much for giggly gossip and girl bonding.

Both girls crossed their arms, glowering. Finally, both sighed noisily in frustration and turned away at the same time. After a long moment of silence, Galinda couldn't take her best friend being mad at her, and she_really_ wanted to know what happened. Even though she wasn't sorry, she apologized. Elphaba was no match for the forlorn repentant face that Galinda had perfected on her Popsical, and with a huge sigh, the green girl said reluctantly, "Fine, I forgive you."

"Good!" Galinda giggled, "So, spill!"

Elphie glanced away, "That's personal."

"I know! That's what makes it good."

With a patented eye roll, her roommate surrendered. It was no use, Galinda would wait her out, pestering day and night until she knew. Elphaba confessed, giving a very vague skeleton of events, and Galinda squealed when they reached the kiss. "Aw! So are you his girlfriend now?"

"Oh, brother."

Galinda bounced up and down on her bed, excited for her friend. Elphaba merely retreated back to bed, pulling the covers over her head to terminate the conversation. Though she hadn't been rewarded with as much information as she'd wanted, Galinda still felt good about how the day had gone. Smug in her knowledge of her talent for meddling, she flicked off the lights.

* * *

Elphaba spent the next few days avoiding both bubbly Galinda, who was altogether too proud of herself and Fiyero, who wanted to "talk" about what happened. She kept hoping if she just evaded it long enough, it would go away. Truth be told, it was quite a difficult task, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she got caught by one of them. 

As it was, it turned out to be Fiyero. She had arrived early for class, hoping the other students would work as backup, and Fiyero had uncharacteristically slipped in right after her, blocking her in the still empty classroom. "You can't keep doing this," he hissed right behind her, making her jump.

"Fiyero! What are you doing sneaking up on people like that?" She was grouchy at having been trapped, and she hoped her temper could hold him at bay.

"You promised," was all he said, with such a hurt look on his face that she caved.

"I'm sorry. I just…I don't want to talk about it, ok?"

"No! It's not ok. We need to talk about it. You can't just pretend it didn't happen!"

"It's been working so far," she threw out maliciously, regretting it when he pulled back, hurt and angry. She felt miserable knowing it was all her fault, but seriously, what did he want from her? She'd already humiliated herself. She didn't need to relive it.

"You want to pretend it never happened? Fine. That's what we'll do." He sighed bitterly, more dejected than she'd ever seen him. He turned to go, and she caught his arm.

"Fiyero, wait." The hurt in his eyes as he glanced back broke her heart. "I'm sorry." He nodded, and with his retreat Elphaba did not feel the relief she'd expected, only enormous, crushing, horrid guilt.

Miserable, she kept thinking about nothing else all during class. Her notes were pathetically useless, a jumble of useless words that didn't begin to shed light on the lecture. Ever the theorist, she reevaluated the problem on her way to the dorm, eventually reaching several conclusions: A. She was undeniably attracted to Fiyero, even more so since that fateful day. B. He had not rejected her when she'd attacked him, though he had been potioned himself. However, more important, C. He was still not holding that against her now. In fact, if anything, he was hurt that she was holding it against him. All this led to D. If she were took take the potion again, she would get to kiss him again with no worse consequences.

Feeling ridiculous for even considering this crazy plan, she checked Galinda's half of the room for sign of her recipe, ingredients, or really anything to give Elphaba a clue as to how she'd made the love potion. Winding up empty-handed, Elphaba did what she did best - looked it up. It was surprisingly difficult to locate a love potion at the library, probably hidden to keep silly freshman from abusing it all the time.

The concoction was actually remarkably easy to make, and while it didn't foam like Galinda's, it looked similar otherwise. Knowing her bubbly roommate, the fizz had just been decoration anyway.

Ready, she found Fiyero, and painfully she swallowed her pride, apologizing and agreeing to talk to him in private. He brightened considerably, promising to come by after dinner. That accomplished, she had nothing to do but wait. Dinner came and went, and Elphaba nervously faced the lukewarm blue goo that she was supposed to drink. After a moment of indecision, she swallowed the whole thing in a giant gulp.

While the taste was decidedly better, the texture was revolting. That she managed to consume it at all was a miracle. Just in time, the door opened. "I'm glad you came." The blond curls that bobbed into sight were not the most welcome at the moment, and as Galinda cheerfully echoed the greeting, Elphaba snapped, "Not you! Where's Fiyero?"

"He had to go take care of something. He said he'd be over later tonight."

"No! He has to come over now. I don't know how long this stuff lasts," she exclaimed, and Galinda tilted her head, clearly expecting an explanation. Blushing, she decided the best way to enlist Galinda's help (and an empty room) was to come clean. "I took another love potion. I wanted an excuse…oh this is horrible."

"You took a _what_?! Why?"

"This is so embarrassing." She covered her face, mortified to have been discovered in her pathetic scheme. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Suddenly the blond paled. "Elphie, there was none of mine left. Where did you get it from?"

"I looked it up."

"You _what_?! What are you thinking? You have no idea what could happen. What if it has side effects? What if it doesn't wear off? Why did you do something so crazy?!" The girl was near hysterics, pacing around the room and gesturing madly.

Indignant, Elphaba rejoined, "Oh, that's great, coming from someone who gave an untested potion to her best friends and locked them in a room together."

"I didn't give you a _real_ potion! I gave you a placenta!"

That took Elphaba back a second until she realized what the blond meant. Paling considerably herself, she asked with trepidation, "You mean, a placebo?"

"Whatever. A fake. You both so obviously wanted to, and with the power of suggestion, you didn't really need a potion, just the idea of one." The surprisingly astute blonde beamed at her cleverness, but Elphaba was too hung up on the implications to be proud of her roommate.

Suddenly she felt a little dizzy, whether by the news or the potion, Elphaba didn't know. "So, when Fiyero and I…we were…so he really…oh crap."

* * *

Elphaba seemed shocked by this new information, but Galinda didn't think that's what was causing her pupils to dilate and her skin to flush. She looked sick, but Galinda was afraid it was more lovesick. What should she do? If Elphaba made the potion, there was a good chance it would work, but any chance of antidote was out of the question as the green girl was clearly not going to be capable of rational thinking soon. 

Elphie flopped on her bed, and Galinda thought at least she could use this to her advantage. Perhaps intoxicated, Elphaba would blab the details of her first potioning, details Galinda had been dying to know ever since. Sitting beside her on the bed, she was about to start a campaign to cajole the information out of her roommate when the girl suddenly seized her in a hug. Since when did Elphie hug?

In her roommate's arms, she noticed that Elphaba wasn't letting go. With a dazed look, Elphaba said, "You know, you have really pretty hair." With that, she reached up, curling her fingers in the blond locks, and leaned in to smell her hair with an odd expression on her face. "You smell good, too. Can I use your shampoo sometime?"

"Sure." Galinda had never really considered a shower makeover before, but whatever she had, her roommate was welcome to.

Elphaba had started nuzzling her hair, making Galinda feel decidedly awkward, especially when Elphie stroked her arm lightly, whispering, "And you skin is really soft." She leaned forward, pressing her lips against said skin, and letting them brush up her arm and onto her neck. "You're so pretty. I wish I were pretty." Her lips had reached a very surprised Galinda's face, and leaning in, she made the briefest of contacts before Galinda turned her head away. Elphaba contented herself with Galinda's neck.

"Ok," she pulled away from the odd display. "No more love potions for you."

Flopping back on the bed, Elphie pouted, "Where's Fiyero? I miss him."

"He's coming here, remember?"

"I can't wait. Let's go get him."

Elphaba bounced up and with considerably more speed that would be expected, slipped out the door in search of Fiyero. Galinda sighed heavily and went in pursuit, watching in horror as Elphaba was petting some pretty blond girl with wonderment in her eyes. "You have beautiful hair. Just like Galinda." She caught sight of her roommate behind her, "Ooh, Galinda! Look, she matches you. I know how you love to match," she smiled dreamily. This was going to be a long night.

Before Galinda could reach her, Elphaba was out on campus, repeating the previous event with small variations several times, always evading Galinda at the last minute to continue her hurt for Fiyero. Finally, halfway to the boys' dorm she spotted him on his way to them.

"Fiyero!" Elphaba shouted, running off to throw her arms around her discovery. Elphaba giggled. "I love you Fiyero." He raised his eyebrows at Galinda, and she shrugged, flustered and a little out of breath.

"Did you potion her again?"

She shook her head at his accusation, "It's a long story, but I never potioned either of you actually. I gave you both a gazebo."

"What?" He untangled Elphaba's fingers from his shirt buttons, "You mean, a placebo?"

"Ugh! Whatever that stupid word is."

"So then…"

"She did this to herself. She looked up a real one."

"Why-Aye!" He jumped as she grabbed his butt, making her giggle uncontrollably.

"I'm guessing because she obviously really likes you." At Galinda's voice, Elphaba shifted her attention back to her. Wandering over, she started petting her hair again, and entwining herself in her roommate's arms, Elphaba cooed compliments in her ear and asking Fiyero if he knew how soft, beautiful and the like Galinda was. She shook her head. "We have to get her back to the room."

Together they managed to cajole her into following them. Though only a couple people saw them, Galinda knew the whole school would soon be buzzing with the rumors. As they reached the dorm, Elphaba tried to lurch in pursuit of a passing couple, but Fiyero caught her, distracting her with his lips. She happily followed again, snuggling with him as they walked together. They really made a cute couple.

When they reached the room, Fiyero bid her goodnight, only to have Galinda seize his arm. "Oh no. You're not leaving me to deal with her all night by myself. I need backup." As she said this, Elphaba had wrapped her arms around Galinda from behind, kissing her neck seductively. Fiyero froze in the doorway, eyes wide.

Elphaba giggled, reached for his hand and pulled them both seductively into the room after her. Fiyero's jaw had dropped a little as Elphaba tried to steal a kiss from Galinda. With wide, lustful eyes pinned on the two girls, Fiyero said eagerly, "Ok, I'm in."

* * *

AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You make my day shiny. 


	5. Honestly Fiyero

Lustfully, Fiyero watched the two girls until Galinda called aggravated, "Well, were you going to help, or just stand there and watch?"

"Help how?" He winked playfully, "Watching sounds pretty good right now."

She whacked him on the arm, managing to free herself only for a second. However, her motion had redirected Elphaba's attention to him, and she released her roommate in favor of him. "Fiyero!" she cooed, inserting herself in his arms. Not that he had complaints.

"Yes, Elphie?"

Whispering in his ear like a secret, "Did you know we were never potioned?" He smiled and nodded. She would make such a cute drunk. "That means you know I really like you." She giggled at her own clever observation. With a sudden gasp, her mouth made a perfect "O" of realization, quite reminiscent of a comic cartoon character. "That means you really like me too!"

He smiled tenderly at her, "That's what I kept trying to tell you."

She beamed and reached up for her reward. He kissed her gently, and then decidedly less gently, and then considerably more forcefully. So it continued until Galinda reappeared, gasping in surprise at the sight of Elphaba with legs wrapped around Fiyero and her shirt halfway off her shoulder. He almost dropped her from surprise, trying to subtly fix her attire while guiltily rambling some pathetic excuse that didn't sound coherent even to him.

"So I suppose I can't leave you two alone." Galinda said with mock exasperation. She was, while being somewhat meddlesome by nature, a good friend and not about to leave Elphaba in her intoxicated state. Assuming her new role as substitute Ama, she sighed heavily. "Honestly, Fiyero."

Setting his beautiful temptation down, he shrugged nonchalantly. "Can you blame me?" At that statement, Elphaba had managed to mold herself against his side, nipping and sucking in a most satisfying way down his neck. At Galinda's glare, he decided she probably could in fact blame him, and later sober Elphaba would side with her. He untangled Elphaba arms from around his neck, restoring a modicum of personal space again. "You know, you're the one who started all this."

"Yes, but you guys were supposed to flirt a little and then gossip with me about it, not eat each other's faces off right in front of me." The blond pouted, annoyed that her plan had backfired. "Besides, you shouldn't take advantage of her. She's under the influenza."

"You mean, influence?" he asked chuckling.

She made a strangled sound. Personally he thought it was adorable that she constantly got perfectly normal words wrong. "You know what I mean!" He did, and she was right. He told her so, apologizing sincerely, and even fighting off Elphaba's sensational attacks with more resolve now.

Having lost her entertainment, Elphaba darted over, grabbing her hands. "Galinda! Dance with me! Remember the Ozdust?" Both girls chuckled a little at that. Elphaba wrapped her arms around her roommate in a fierce hug, suddenly serious. "Galinda, you're my best friend. I never thought I'd ever have a best friend like you. I love you." She lightly kissed Galinda's cheek, making the other girl blush.

Just as quickly, the gravity was gone from her, and Elphie called, "Fiyero, turn on the music so we can dance." He had never seen her like this, so openly happy, relaxed, and just in love with life itself. She twirled around, holding Galinda's hands, and eventually the blond decided just to go with the new, fun-loving version of her friend. He leaned back against the wall to smile at them indulgently. Elphaba's hair flew around untamed as she swung her head wildly, and she beamed, exclaiming, "I love this song!"

Then the music changed to a more club-influenced sound, throbbing bass and racier lyrics. Elphaba didn't waste a beat before pulling closer to Galinda, swaying and waving her arms seductively. Hot enough by herself, the sight of her swinging her hips against Galinda, their bodies rubbing together and their arms entwining to the music was enough to undo him almost entirely. Like any warm-blooded male, the idea of two pretty women in such a suggestible context was very erotic, and he had admittedly entertained the fantasy before.

Galinda had looked hesitant, but Elphaba managed to keep it just friendly enough to make her partner comfortable while simultaneously keeping it sensual enough to make Fiyero want to rip her clothes off from across the room. When she locked eyes with him in a perfect come-hither stare, he knew he didn't stand a chance. Holding her eyes, he walked purposefully across the room and pulled her to him, no trace of a smile on his face as he let her know exactly how that had affected him. Flush against him, Elphaba brought Galinda to his other side, fingers playing with hers against his chest.

As she grinded her hips against him, he pulled her hungrily to his mouth for a quick, but intense kiss. Galinda was caught in the spell of it all now, too exhausted by the late hour to argue, and she closed her eyes and rested her head contentedly against his shoulder as the three danced. Between the girls, he struggled to remain in control though his hormones had other ideas.

Then the song changed, and Elphaba started singing softly along, head tilted back as her body swayed against him, "The world was on fire, no one could save me but you. Strange what desire can make foolish people do." It was all just so sexy, he almost couldn't stand it. "What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way. What a wicked thing to do to make me dream of you."

Her throat so exposed drew him to it, the soft cool skin against his burning lips like a balm from heaven. Her singing was interrupted by a gasp as his lips and fingers came to caress her face lightly. Galinda eyes finally fluttered open as the song came to an end, and wisely she withdrew herself to turn off the music.

Elphaba murmured lightly at her friend's absence, and Fiyero seized the opportunity to pull her into a deep, fervent kiss. By the time he managed to pull himself from her ardent embrace, Galinda had escaped back to the bathroom to change for bed. He pulled his own little minx to bed, wanting very much to continue where they had left off. Her tired eyes were having trouble focusing or even staying open, and he was suddenly a little afraid she would fall asleep on her feet. He carried her to bed, hoping she hadn't had a bad reaction to the potion.

At the resurfacing in his mind of the potion, he suddenly felt guilty again about taking advantage of the situation. Sure, he knew now she really liked him, but she was officially under the influence of a drug at the moment. Making her still off-limits. This was not a happy realization for him at all, aroused as he was, but he decided as long as they could keep things under control, there was no reason why they couldn't enjoy themselves just a little. He gave her a quick kiss, pulling back before he could get more worked up.

Galinda came out, crawling into her own bed and turning off the lights without a word. He suspected she was feeling similar levels of fatigue tinged with guilt for almost letting things get out of hand; all in all, they were not doing a very good job of keeping Elphaba safe in her inebriated state. In their defense, Elphaba was a strong force for any mere mortal to try to stop, no matter what she might have determined to do.

A little awkwardly, he lay back on Elphaba's bed, pulling her into his arms. They snuggled together happily in the dark, listening to Galinda's even breathing. He had calmed down a little, enough to recognize how nice it felt simply to hold her. She looked up at him adoringly, and though he knew that was the potion, it still made him feel like a superhero. With a small kiss to her forehead, he smiled down at her regretfully, "Why'd you have to go and give yourself a love potion?"

She snuggled closer, whispering so Galinda wouldn't wake up, "So I could kiss you and not have to admit to being in love with you."

Wow. He hadn't expected any answer to his rhetorical question, but even so, he'd never have expected that answer. He tilted his head, a proud smile barely held below the surface. "You're in love with me?"

Elphaba leaned up to kiss him, nodding. "Exceptionally."

The broad smile he'd been fighting won to conquer his face at that, and he returned her kiss sweetly. "I'm in love with you, too. I have been for a while actually."

She grinned, "Well, then we had better get started making up lost time." She leaned into him, kissing him more firmly now. He trailed his hand down her back, then up again, continuing a relentless journey. She shook her hair out of her face, her hand coming up to cup his cheek as they continued to trade sweet kisses.

After a while, she was no longer satisfied with their tame exploration, nimble fingers undoing his shirt buttons in a matter of seconds. She slid her hands inside, roaming over his bare skin in a most enticing manner. It didn't take long before he was jealous, and he let his hand that was rubbing her back slip underneath her own loose shirt. Fondling her back lightly, he deepened their kisses until Elphaba was panting with the lack of oxygen. He had mercy, moving to attack her scrumptious neck, and she moaned softly with her head thrown back, encouraging him to continue.

Galinda stirred, and Fiyero froze, suddenly remembering where they were and the circumstances involved. He started to pull back when Elphaba rolled on top of him, pushing his shirt completely off and running her hands over his shoulders and arms. Both his hands moved under her shirt now, daring to venture to her sides, her flat stomach, the swell of her hips. God, she felt amazing. He knew of nothing soft enough to compare her to, nothing so thrilling that he could use to describe the insatiable energy between them in metaphor.

Her body shifting above him, fueled by his caresses, was driving him insane, but that was nothing compared to the idea of her bare skin against his. Oh, he wanted her, hating her shirt for keeping her from him. Apparently she agreed since she pulled back, straddling him and arching her back as she ripped off the offensive article of clothing. She was so beautiful, her curves clear through the thin material of her bra. He clasped her against him and hungrily attacked her mouth as her supple skin slid against his naked torso.

His libido was wildly out of control now, he dug his fingers into her, and he knew if she so much as breathed a word resembling yes, he would rip the rest of her clothes off and take her right there. No chance of him regaining control of the situation, not with her skin sliding so fantastically against his, her tongue deliciously darting against his own, her lithe body overthrowing any sense of logic he could summon as it moved on top of his. He bit his lip, hard, trying not to push things farther, not daring to attempt the impossible by pulling away. At this point, he would be lucky not to be losing ground.

She was not appeased by such incomplete conquering, urging his frazzled and electrified nerves to commit mutiny against his pleasure-blocking brain. She half-breathed, half-moaned in his ear, "Oh, 'Yero." It was just so unfair; she seemed to know exactly what to do to turn him on. He wanted to hear that again so badly. As if she'd heard his thought, she echoed her endearment, irresistibly wild with abandon.

He rolled them over, covering her mouth with his, and after a moment, he pulled back, whispering, "Careful. You'll wake up Galinda." Conscience forgotten, he didn't want them interrupted now. Damn the consequences, she was just too intoxicating. She murmured, fingers moving in a seductive dance along his skin. Now that he was braced above her, her sexy little body pressed beneath him, he felt almost dizzy with the need to have her. Moving against her, he felt an exhilarating rush unlike anything he'd ever known, as if this were the first moment he had come alive.

Of course, as was his luck, Galinda's voice called out softly, "Elphie?" Struggling to control his ragged breathing, he slid off her, assuming a less obvious posture. "Elphie are you alright?"

"I'm amazing," she sighed with a dreamy smile as Fiyero's lips found her earlobe.

"Yes, you are," he whispered softly but intensely. "You are definitely amazing." The small breath of oxygen he'd managed to get to his brain was quickly being used up, that foggy feeling of desire flooding back. Her murmured response was lost in the racing pulse pounding through his ears.

As if Galinda knew, she called again, "Fiyero?"

Husky and thick with arousal, his voice coaxed out a, "Yes?" It came out half-groan as Elphaba let her tongue flick his chest sensuously. Oh, she was killing him. Slowly and achingly killing him with this wonderful torture.

"Are you…behaving?" She clearly didn't want to bring up the subject, but felt obligated to stick up for her friend's modesty in her incapacitation. He felt bad now, having had every intention of behaving like a perfect gentleman even if he had drastically underestimated Elphaba's seductive skills. He couldn't lie, and he stuttered pathetically for a moment.

Elphaba giggled, "Why don't you come over here and find out?"


	6. Morning

Galinda woke up with a pounding headache. She'd slept so fitfully last night even after their late retiring. Glancing over at the reason for her troubled dreams, she saw Elphaba with head cutely cuddled on Fiyero shoulder, and she smiled. Sighing, she rose to turn off the ridiculous alarm that Elphaba usually handled, and after hitting the wrong button the sixth time, she squealed in frustration.

"Elphie! How do I make it stop?" The blaring alarm was driving nails into her headache.

There was a muffled reply that sounded like "Ja smushy button," from the now blanket-covered head buried into Fiyero. Galinda poked frantically around on the annoying device looking for anything remotely smushy.

"I can't find it!" she wailed in despair. "I'll never get it to stop."

Fiyero sighed, blinking unhappily at this less than gentle wake up call. With a large yawn, he sighed, "Give it to me." She carried it as cautiously at arm's length as if it were a bomb, praying he could really disarm the shrieking thing. As soon as she handed it to him, he smashed it across the room and into the wall. With a few final dying bleeps, the alarm sputtered out. "There." He yawned again, and with another adjustment to the blankets, he wrapped his arms around Elphaba before settling back to sleep.

She started to crawl back into her own very comfy bed when she remembered that it was still a school day. Sighing, she padded into the bathroom automatically with her eyes closed. Gradually, she started to regain her usual chipper morning attitude. She gathered her clothes so as to change after her shower without leaving the bathroom, and passing by she saw an adorable scene as a sleepy Elphaba woke to see an equally sleepy Fiyero next to her.

Fiyero tucked a strand of hair out of her face tenderly, and Elphaba blinked her eyes with a sleepy smile in return. "Morning," his voice was throaty, still heavy with sleep, and Galinda smiled a little at the obviously very content couple across the room. She was such a genius for matching them up.

Proud of herself, she started the water to get it warm enough, humming a little ditty that she'd sung to Elphaba before. She loved to make up songs, and as she bustled around with her facial, she made up some lyrics for today. "I'm so smart. Oh, yes, I am so very smart. I knew just how cute they'd be. So kudos to me…" A sudden blood-curdling scream made her gasp and run into the room in surprise. "Elphie, are you ok? What happened?"

Fiyero was now lying with both hands up in surrender, dodging blows from a very unhappy looking green person. Elphaba whirled around to face her, and Galinda noticed that her shirt was oddly missing. "Galinda! What is Fiyero doing in my bed!?!"

She froze uncertainly for a moment, and with a pleading look to Fiyero, said, "Sleeping?"

"Ugh! I know he was sleeping, but how did he get in?"

"Oh, that! You don't remember? You gave yourself a love potion and went all googly-eyed." She giggled remembering, though at the time it had been decidedly less funny. "You kept petting my hair."

Elphaba turned an odd shade of chartreuse as her face paled. "I did what? Wait, but how did Fiyero…?"

"You ran across campus to find him and drag him back. Remember?"

With an unsteady voice, Elphaba asked, "And my shirt?"

She shrugged, "Ask him." Fiyero froze having crept his way free of the bed without notice until Galinda redirected Elphaba's attention to him. "Fiyero," she chastised, crossing her arms. "Didn't I tell you to behave?"

His eyes wide, he suddenly realized the predicament he was in now with all the evidence against him and the only other witness having no recollection of the events. "Hey, look, I didn't…she took it off herself, I swear!" He glanced at Elphaba guiltily, and she realized she was still standing there in her bra. With a shriek, she grabbed the first thing she found – his shirt. This led her to the realization that he was also shirtless, and though she turned almost fuchsia in anger, Galinda noticed she kept subtly glancing toward him, too.

This was getting pretty good, just like those soap shows her momsie always watched. Galinda abandoned getting ready in favor of watching this much more interesting entertainment.

Now more appropriately covered, Elphaba turned to glare at Fiyero, though the whole effect was ruined a little by the quick glances down followed by deep blushes. "So…so…you just…" she was furious, but sputtering around uselessly as she didn't know exactly what it was she was upset about. She glanced at Galinda searchingly.

Ever willing to help a friend, Galinda gleefully supplied, "Fiyero! You just let her?"

Grateful to have a reason for her fury, she turned back to Fiyero with a searing look. "Yeah, you just let me?"

Double-teamed, Fiyero was growing desperate. He appealed to Galinda, "Hey, come on! You saw what she was like. What was I supposed to do? I mean, seriously!"

This was not making Elphaba feel any better, and she spun around to face her roommate anxiously. "Why, what was I like?"

Galinda hesitated, not sure how to answer that smoothly. Her grimace kind of said it all, and Elphaba's face paled again. She whirled back to face Fiyero, "So…so…What happened!?!" Ooh! This really _was _getting good!

Fiyero flushed in turn. "Nothing," he lied terribly, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

Suddenly, she sprung at him, flailing her fists over him as he ducked and covered his head. Each word punctuated with a punch, she said, "Fiyero Tiggular, do not stand there and tell me I am missing my shirt because _nothing_ happened last night!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" he called for a truce. "I mean, nothing bad happened?" At her murderous glare and a quick moment he flinched, "I mean, alright. I may have kissed you - a lot. Okay, a whole lot. And you may have climbed on top of me and taken our shirts off." He winced, turning the perfect complimentary shade of pink to match her green. "And I may have…encouraged you just the teensiest little bit, but nothing else!" She took a step forward dangerously, and he continued, "Seriously, you don't understand! What was I supposed to do? You were all crazy and sexy and irresistible and saying all these wonderful things and ripping off my shirt. I mean, come on! What do you want from me?!" He ended in a near-hysterical voice, and Galinda suddenly hoped they didn't wake up their neighbors. She chuckled happily. Poor Fiyero. He must have had a hard night.

"I'll tell you what I want from you! How about a little…" Elphaba started, then stopped suddenly, "Wait, what do you mean? What did I say?"

Just when it seemed he couldn't have possibly made things worse for himself! The terrified expression on his face was the perfect contradiction to his high-pitched, "Nothing." His sudden obviously false smile did little to convince her of the validity of his claim. With an intimidating lean, she started forward to repeat her earlier response to that kind of a reply when he stuttered a rushed reply to stave her off. "I mean, just that…oh crap, can't you just kill me now?"

Galinda suddenly remembered she had been trying to fix them up together, which would be near impossible if Elphaba really killed him. Intervening, she offered, "Well, you _were_ very affectionate last night." They both turned to blink at her as if just realizing she was there. "But that's not the point. The point is…"

Elphaba interrupted, spinning back to face Fiyero. "Yeah! The point is you're supposed to stop me!"

"No," she redirected her roommate. "The point is nothing too bad really happened."

Elphaba blinked, "What? That's not the point."

"Sure it is."

Confused for a second, Elphaba stared at her roommate. "No, it's not."

"I'm sure it's the point, isn't it?" she appealed to Fiyero for backup, and he bobbed his head in agreement so fast it looked like he was having a seizure. "See, that's the point. No harm, no foul." She held her arms out generously, as if the matter were all settled now and all forgiven.

Elphaba glared. "Galinda, no offense, but get out. I need to kill Fiyero, and that means I need fewer witnesses." Galinda started to argue, but then Elphaba reminded her how little time was left to get ready in. Hurrying, she could still make it dressed and prepared in half the normal time if she altered her routine a little, perhaps brushing her teeth with one hand and putting on lipstick with the other (which turned out to be a terrible idea later). With an apologetic look to Fiyero, she rushed off.

By the time she came out of the bathroom half an hour later, at least Fiyero was still alive. He was leaving to go to his own room to get ready, and she ducked back out of sight to spy on their goodbye. Fiyero squeezed Elphaba's hand, "So, you promise we'll really talk this time?"

Elphaba smiled, which was always a good sign. "I guess I have to now, don't I? You're the one with all the memories."

He chuckled, adding, "Just promise no more love potions for a while?" He kissed Elphaba lingeringly on the cheek before ducking out.

Galinda couldn't wait to get the information she'd missed out of Elphaba, but apparently her friend was not in a talkative mood. Elphaba rolled her eyes at her. "Don't think you're off the hook, either. Where were you when all this went on?"

"Elphie! I was asleep!" she whined for sympathy.

Her friend was not swayed, adopting a stern posture. "Fiyero said you asked him to stay."

Galinda frowned slightly, careful of the wrinkles it could cause. Of course he would sell her out to get out of trouble himself, though secretly she didn't blame him. "Well, it was only to have some help."

"And to get a little gossip?" Elphaba accused.

"Is that really so bad?" puppy-eyes at full flutter.

"Yes!"

"Alright, I really asked him to stay to make you happy, and it did. I've never seen you so happy. You were positively glowified!" Elphaba was weakening. "Besides, I didn't give you the potion this time. You did that all on your own. You're lucky we were there to stop anything worse from happening."

This completely took the wind out of her roommate's sails, having no good argument to combat that one. "Fine." After a careful moment, she added, "Thanks," begrudgingly, and Galinda beamed.

"Of course, Elphie dear. We love you, too." Her roommate's eyes widened at that, as if starting to realize all she might have said under the influence. "So…what did you two talk about after I left?"

She took a page from Fiyero, "Nothing." And with that she grabbed her bag and headed out the door. Galinda pouted just enough so as to still be very cute doing it. Some thanks for matching up with her crush and then protecting her when she went and incapacitated herself. She jogged after her roommate, "Elphie wait up! I just want to know _one_ more teensy little thing. Does Fiyero… Elphaba, slow down. Elphie?!" She would have to start getting shorter heels if she was going to keep up.


	7. The Talk

Elphaba tilted her head back against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Galinda had been surprisingly hard to dodge. What a crazy morning this was turning out to be. She'd woken up in such a wonderful mood, warm and content only to discover the source of it yawning lazily next to her. They had certainly made Galinda's day with all the confusion and hysterics, but once they were alone, Fiyero had managed to calm her down, promising to explain everything to her exactly as it happened in its entirety. It wasn't that she doubted him that nothing had happened; it was more that they had different views of what nothing was.

Terrified though she was at the missing events of last night, she couldn't help but feel a strange thrill of happiness that he had stayed with her all night. As much as she told herself not to get her hopes up, and as much as her brain worked at explaining away his actions, deep down part of her acknowledged that she was out of excuses. Fiyero was obviously willing, as he'd yet to have a single drop of real potion.

Her head pounding painfully, Elphaba slunk into her seat. Biting her lip as he came to sit beside her, she fought to remain neutral. "Hi."

"Hi," he smiled shyly. Awkwardly they just stared at each other as they searched for words. "Are you okay?" His eyes were so intent on her, and it was odd to have his full attention like this.

Uncomfortably aware of everything in their little sphere, she felt so insecure. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Distracted, she could barely maintain any concentration on the lecture. Fiyero was watching her less than subtly, and she had to try hard not to acknowledge it. Finally the torture ended, and as she gathered her books, he caught her arm. "Hey, I'm supposed to meet some people for lunch, but I can blow them off if you want me to."

She shook her head. "I'm meeting Galinda."

With a disappointed look, he said, "Oh, okay. Dinner?" Nervously, she nodded. "Everything's okay between us, right?"

"That depends on what you say at dinner." He chuckled, though she hadn't really been joking.

Finding Galinda for lunch was easy, and though she had to keep dodging questions of Fiyero, she was glad to talk to the only other person who could explain the odd looks she was getting. "Why does everyone keep staring at me? I mean, more than normal."

"Well, you made a lot of new friends," the shorter girl giggled. "Oh, and I don't think you're very good at picking out who matches me. Not every blond is the same color. There are highlights and lowlights and…" Elphaba went a little brain dead for the rest of the conversation.

Somehow she made it through the rest of the day, and finally the moment came for her conversation with Fiyero. Apprehensively, she readjusted her hair in a pointless struggle against futility, sighing as it drooped back. How had Galinda talked her into unbraiding it?

Was this a date? She didn't know, but she tried not to think about it. When the knock finally came at the door, Galinda answered it brightly, "Hi! Come on in," and Elphaba's rapid jump in heartbeat made her feel sick. Fiyero's friend from that first mortifying night walked in, nodding to her politely. Not Fiyero. Elphaba fell back to fretfully pacing as she waited for him, and Galinda bid her a goodnight, whispering "Good luck." She didn't even turn around to respond, hanging her head as soon as the door closed. Obviously he was not coming. Disappointment flooded through her.

She almost screamed when she felt hands on her shoulders, spinning around to face an equally surprised Fiyero. "How did you get in here?"

Taken aback by her reaction, he said simply, "Galinda." Heart still pounding, she nodded. He continued uneasily, "Um, you hungry?"

Her stomach flipped uneasily. "Yes and no."

"You want to talk first?"

Another flip. "Yes and no."

He chuckled good-naturedly. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"Throw up," she answered honestly.

He smiled sympathetically, leading her to sit side by side on the edge of her bed, the scene of the crime as it were. "Elphaba, trust me. You have nothing to worry about."

"That's easy for you to say. You remember it."

"Ask me anything you want to know. I promise I'll tell you everything."

She rested her head on his shoulder, all the better to avoid his eyes. "I'm not sure I want to know."

He rubbed her arm gently. Then he turned so they were facing each other. "Okay, I guess we should start with catching you up. Then you can kill me." He swallowed a little apprehensively despite all his talk of it being nothing. He filled her in on the basics, skimming through it as quickly as possible.

"Was I really petting Galinda?"

He smiled mischievously. "You were doing a little more than petting Galinda. Let's just say, you're a really sexy dancer." This took her off-guard, not just because he had called her sexy or the way it sounded like she had danced with Galinda, but also because she'd never been anything but a truly atrocious dancer. Ask anyone from the Ozdust, she was really bad. She started to continue this line of inquiry when she remembered something else he had referred to this morning.

"So, what did I say?"

The smile dripped off his face. "Oh, you were singing along with some song, and you sing really, really well." He waited to see if she would be distracted by another question, but she waited for the real answer. "And you kind of said you took the potion because you were in love with me." Horrified, she covered her face in her hands. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, and in a higher voice than normal, he continued, obviously making good on his promise to tell her everything despite their discomfort. "And, um, then you kind of," he cleared his throat, "moaned my name in my ear, and God, you are really sexy."

She glanced up at him, surprised to see him staring at her with naked admiration. It was official. She was going to die of humiliation. "Oh, this is so embarrassing."

He stared at her hand, lacing their fingers together and studying the way his thumb moved over her skin. Finally, he built up the courage to say, "And, um, I told you that I'm in love with you too." He said each word as if it were a battle. He held his breath, and cautiously his eyes wandered up to hers.

She wanted to avoid this, digest it, figure out her reaction, but there wasn't time. He was looking at her so intently, so she just blurted out her next question as if he hadn't said anything. "Did … did we…?"

"No!" Fiyero seemed so hurt, and in retrospect, it probably wasn't the best question to follow up his revelation. "You think I would do that to you? I feel bad enough as it is, and we didn't really do anything. I would never take advantage of you like that." He pulled his hand free to run it through his hair. "I mean, I'm not going to say I didn't think about it. Or want to. But, I really tried everything I could to …"

She stopped him, her finger on his lips before he gave himself a heart attack. "I believe you." Suddenly she realized how close they were, and she leaned back quickly. "I just had to ask." The awkwardness grew between them, and she suddenly decided she didn't want to know any more. Whatever happened was probably best not in her memory. "Look Fiyero, I can't say I'm thrilled, but it's really my own fault for taking that stupid potion. I'm not your responsibility."

With a surprising show of tenderness, he stroked her cheek as he said, "Hey, of course you are. You're my friend, and I care about you." They lapsed into silence for a minute, too caught in their own insecurities to say anything.

After a moment, he said, "You know, you didn't need a potion." She blushed, wondering if he was saying what she thought he was. "I'm gonna be completely honest here. You're the best friend I've ever had, and I completely respect you. But you know, I _am_ a guy, and I can't help but notice that you're gorgeous. And when a beautiful, sexy girl like you acts like she's interested in me, it's hard to resist."

He was generalizing to deliberately keep his point vague, watching her for a reaction. When she avoided his eyes, he continued hurriedly under the assumption she'd misunderstood, "Not that I'm saying I can't or didn't, just that…you, know. Say something, please?"

She shrugged, "Like what?"

"Anything. Are you upset? Happy? Feeling the need for sharp pointy objects to jab into my eyes?" This earned a genuine laugh, and she assured him that his eyes were safe for now. "So?" Anxiously, he studied her face, his courage clearly starting to run out. "Where do we go from here? We can do whatever you want."

Her eyes shifted back and forth. She stalled, "What do you mean?" At his sharp look, she sighed heavily. She fell back in frustration, her uncooperative hair now spread all over the bed to tangle. "How should I know what to do?"

Fiyero decided to take matters into his own hands, moving to lie beside her staring up at the ceiling, he said, "Well, it's simple really. What do you _want_ to do?"

She almost groaned audibly at the word. If only she knew the answer to that, she wouldn't feel so drastically overwhelmed. "Honestly? I don't know."

"Okay. Fair enough. Let's just start with: do you want to kill, maim or inflict me with serious bodily harm?" She shook her head indulgently. "Okay, that's a good start." He took a gulp of air, and she tensed, knowing the questions were about to get harder. He held his hand out in a silent question of its own, and she slipped her own into it, their arms twining together between them. Butterflies erupted in her already tumultuous stomach. "Do you want to kiss me again?"

Panicking at the thought of admitting she did, she blurted out nonsense at lightning speed. "Well, why do I have to answer that? Why don't you answer it? I…"

Now that he'd begun, he seemed calmer. He chuckled at her kindly, his finger on her lips gently as he rolled onto his side. He didn't remove it when she stopped either, letting it trace her lips softly in conjunction with his eyes. "Because I already did. I wasn't under a potion, remember? You already know that I do."

Her heartbeat was rapidly speeding up. "I…but…" Why did it have to be her decision? She couldn't do this. She started to get up when he caught her arm, making her lie back again.

"Okay, wait. Don't go." He thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "We're friends, right?"

She nodded cautiously, suspecting where he was going with this. He could read her well, always knowing when to push and when to back off. As he pulled her to rest against his shoulder companionably, he gave her space, softly rubbing circles on her arm which relaxed her in a paradoxically stimulating way.

"Do you want to be more than friends?" Another tentative nod. "Good, me too." His lips were growing closer and closer to her. Leaning against him, she really wanted to kiss him, but the thought of actually kissing him on purpose and with no excuse was too daunting for her to overcome.

As if he read her mind, he asked in a husky whisper, "Can I kiss you?" It just felt too good to be true, as if he would take it all back as soon as she admitted it.

He was watching her expectantly, so despite being terrified, she gave a resigned, "Yes."

He leaned down, his lips brushing over her softly which ignited a shiver to race through her. Kissing her sweetly and slowly, it was more an expression of his commitment than attraction. Her nerves tingled as she felt him shift to a better position. Time standing still, all thoughts of awkwardness melted away. Then her traitorous stomach grumbled, betraying her just as she had worked up the nerve to deepen the kiss. "Hungry now?" he asked kindly.

She denied it, trying to refocus him on where they had left off. He looked at her suspiciously, but she merely whispered, "Priorities," returning to his lips.

He smiled, lightening the kisses. "You know, we can pick this up later. I don't want you to starve."

"After all that, I think I deserve the fun part."

He laughed, and with overly mannered civility, he teased, "Your wish is my command." She rolled her eyes, but she was no match for the way he leaned in, his lips teasing her with the promise of a kiss, his fingertips gliding softly over her skin. "So, just for future reference, you do actually _want _to kiss me, right? You're not just letting me kiss you now so we don't have to talk anymore?"

"I would never."

He looked at her, teasing set aside. "You would."

Offended, she scoffed, "Would not." Not the most intelligent or mature of answers, but it was difficult for her to think with him so close.

The hint of teasing came back. "Would too," he continued. She couldn't believe how ridiculous they were being. When she denied it again, he gave her a cocky grin, "Prove it." He called her bluff, so she pushed him down on the bed, kissing him soundly. That shut him up.

Then he kissed her back just as soundly, and she had no capacity for thought left. Floating into a world that existed with just two inhabitants, she pleasantly lost herself in the feel of him.


	8. A Taste

Fiyero fought the urge to grin. He was kissing Elphaba, finally free of all the excuses that had held them apart and held them back. With no guilt involved, he relaxed into enjoying the feel of her in his arms. He began the now familiar journey down her neck, loving the taste of her skin there. She gasped a deep breath, as his lips wandered onto a sensitive spot, and he grinned wickedly, "Yes?" He repeated his experiment, reveling in the confirmation in her sigh.

Gently, he leaned them back to lie on the bed, pulling her to rest on top of him. The weight of her against him was divine, and as he sucked on that spot beside her collarbone that he found so addictive, he let his hands slide underneath her shirt to the soft skin he knew waited underneath. The feel of that skin had been haunting him since last night, taunting him with fierce desires and titillating memories. Her deep intake of breath encouraged him to trace light patterns on the sensitive skin he encountered much to her murmured approval.

She leaned into him as he caressed her sides softly, teasing her back more confidently now until she caught his ear in her tantalizing teeth. His fingers on her back were not teasing anymore as she made them curl in a vain attempt to keep his head steady while she sent dizzy shivers of longing through him. He rolled them over, suddenly needing to reach the buttons on her shirt more than he needed to breathe. With a scorching kiss between them, he undid the first couple buttons quickly, lowering his mouth to the newly exposed skin eagerly.

She pulled back. "Wait a second, what are we doing?" She was obviously overwhelmed, and he had to remind himself that though he'd had two wonderful but frustrating nights of exploration in full knowledge of his intention, this was the first time she hadn't been either intoxicated or presumably potioned. They were on two totally different levels at the moment, and this was only made worse by their divergent previous experience.

Though he'd largely failed at behaving when she was the aggressor, he greatly wanted to restore her trust in him now that she was not. His eyes fell on the sliver of cleavage exposed by the first pair of separated buttons. Then again…

He leaned back, trying to catch his breath. He could do this. After all, he'd already done it twice, right? She shifted to lie on her side, unaware of the effect it had on her clothing, and Fiyero could feel his mouth watering at the sexy pose she'd unconsciously taken. The exposed strip of her bra dredged the image of her in it from his memory, weakening his now very tenuous resolution. "I…uh…need some air." He shook his head to clear it, trying hard not to look at her despite how much he really wanted to. She was going to kill him. If they kept this up, he was going to explode.

He sat up, rubbing his hand over his eyes, and she sat up beside him, finally noticing that her buttons were still undone and rectifying the situation. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Elphaba turned him to face her. "Fiyero, what are you even apologizing for?" He blinked at her, confused. She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, how dare you kiss me back when I kissed you first."

"But I wanted to…" his eyes involuntarily wandered to her chest, staying a little longer perhaps than they should have," you know."

"And I don't?"

That got his attention. "What?"

She blushed then, turning away. "I never said I didn't want to…you know. I just think we're going a little fast, is all."

He tried to keep the eagerness out of his voice, largely failing. "I can go slower. I mean, if you want me to." Hell, he would love to take all night. She laughed at that, smiling at his falling all over himself for the chance to continue.

"That's not exactly what I meant." He was glad she was still relaxed enough to smile even with the subject.

"Oh." He suddenly realized she meant more time dating before they reached that kind of physical activity. "Oh! Oh, yeah, of course. We can do that." He kicked himself for stupidly getting his hopes up like that, but he'd just been so excited that she had said she wanted to.

She laughed again, avoiding his eyes shyly. He took this opportunity to take her hand, and her smile grew at the touch. Fiyero was surprised that he found this touch just as satisfying as the earlier rushed ones, and without the adrenaline pounding in his ears, he listen appreciatively to the soft melody of her breathing. Basking in the glow that filled them, he took a chance and pulled her back to lie beside him.

He kissed her slowly, gently, and his fingertips stayed safely tracing the goosebumps raising on her arms. Before he could get too into it, he pulled away, bringing her head to rest against his shoulder, her arm lying atop his chest and his around her waist. There was something so wonderful about the casual feel of it, something that spoke of time without the need to hurry, a future together. He buried his face in her hair happily, remarking how he'd never felt so content.

After a few moments of relaxed silence, Elphaba spoke first. "I still can't believe Galinda potioned us."

He chuckled. "Does that still bother you? I mean, I think it turned out alright." He kissed her forehead softly. "Besides, she didn't really potion us."

"But she still shouldn't have meddled." Fiyero knew she was really upset that Galinda had manipulated her, having always prided herself on her independence. If there was one thing Elphaba hated, it was being tricked into something.

Rubbing her back now, his mischievous side couldn't help but rise to the challenge. "Well, you know, we could always return the favor."

Elphaba leaned up to stare at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

With a roguish grin, he shrugged. "I don't know. We could always give her a taste of her own medicine." At her blank look, he made a hand sign for drinking, and winked.

"Fiyero!"

"What? You're the one who said she shouldn't have meddled. And you wouldn't be doing anything that she hadn't done to you first."

She was contemplating it, and then she sighed, "Yes, but my potions work." With a sideways glance at his lips, she added, "Maybe a little too well."

Fiyero smiled in amusement. "Oh come on, what harm would it do? As long as you tweak it a little so she only flirts with who she really likes, it'll be funny, not mean." He loved pranks. It had been forever since he'd been given such a golden opportunity for a little harmless mischief, and he was itching for the chance. "It'll be fun, and if she gets mad, you can blame it on me. How's that?"

Finally giving in to his wheedling, she rolled her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" He shrugged, happily distracting her with his lips before she could change her mind.


	9. Love, with a Twist

Elphaba sighed. This was a huge mistake waiting to blow up in her face. She knew it was. Why in Oz had she agreed to this ridiculous prank to get revenge on her best friend?

Fiyero leaned over, "Finished?" Their lips close, he surrendered to the temptation to kiss her lingeringly. Oh yeah. That's why.

"Almost," she added the final ingredient, hoping the alteration wouldn't have unexpected results. If all went as planned, Galinda would be a little more amusing with only those she found attractive, but not too embarrassingly in love with everyone who moved. The potion turned a pleasant shade of pink with a light pearl sheen, perfect for Galinda.

"Wow. Good work!" Fiyero's praise made the butterflies erupt in her stomach again. For someone who liked to consider herself a very independent girl and who took pride in thinking for herself, his gorgeous eyes sure could convince her easily. She smiled demurely, and he took the potion from her, packaging it in what they hoped was an inconspicuous manner.

"So I guess we're going out with them tonight?" she asked.

"That would probably be the easiest way to…," he paused at the footsteps, quickly stashing the potion out of sight. At Galinda's voice outside, they jumped on the bed, and he rolled top of her, kissing her deeply. She kissed back, and for a second, they forgot it was only a cover.

"Oh, well, thank you Biq. I'll see you later then," the walking bubble of sunshine breezed through the door, but the couple on the bed was too distracted by their charade to break apart. Galinda coughed delicately, and Elphaba eyes fluttered open, remembering what they were doing. She tapped Fiyero's shoulder to let her up, but he just redoubled his efforts, giving her such a scorching kiss that it stole her will to pull back. Galinda coughed again, much louder, and Elphaba pushed Fiyero off before she could be diverted again.

He blinked, confused at her distance for a moment until he noticed Galinda presence. "Oh yeah. Hi, Galinda."

She giggled, "So I take it you two worked it out?" Elphaba blushed as Fiyero grinned.

"What are you up to tonight?" Fiyero smoothly transitioned.

"Tobiq is taking me to some club with his friends. Why, do you need the room to be _alone_?" She teased, stretching 'alone' with about twenty o's complete with overdone winks.

Fiyero replied nonchalantly, "Would you mind if we met up with you guys there?"

With an ear-piercing squeal, Galinda bounced over to the bed, "Like a double date? That would be so magnifying!" Elphaba had to work hard before she figured out her friend meant magnificent. "Ooh! Elphie, I could give you a makeover! We could wear matching outfits!" The rest of Galinda's speech was a horrifying blur, and she sent Fiyero a terrified look. Was she really going to have to endure a makeover for this silly prank?

"Galinda!" Fiyero said sternly, barely bringing the girl's attention back from coordinating toenail polish. "No makeovers this time, okay?"

She pouted, "Why not?"

"Because…," he stalled, not wanting to hurt Galinda's feelings. "Because I already told her I wanted to buy her a new outfit to celebrate." Only Galinda would believe that.

She fell for it completely. "Oh, Fiyero, you're so sweet! Elphie, can I go with you guys to pick it out? Pretty please? I'll be your bestest friend."

"You already are."

"Oh, please?" She was bouncing up and down now, puppy-dog eyes in full swing. "I'll never ask for anything ever, ever again."

"Not likely." Elphaba shot back, but Fiyero leaned over, whispering that it would probably be better to let her. She sighed. "Fine."

"Oh, thank you Elphie!" she gushed repeatedly, adding an ominous, "That way I can coordinate your makeup with your new outfit." Fiyero was going to owe her big time.

Some time later, as the girls waited for their dates, Elphaba tried hard not to look at herself in the mirror. It figures that her first official date with Fiyero would involve her feeling like she was a very over-painted and under-dressed doll. Fiyero and his friend came to pick them up together, and both boys made a big show about how beautiful their dates were. Galinda beamed in the spotlight, spinning for their full appreciation, and Elphaba grimaced, slipping her hand to make sure the potion she had concealed was still sealed properly.

Fiyero slid his arm around her, and she smiled at him shyly. She had no idea what to expect on this date, and she was suddenly very grateful for their distracting revenge plot. She could worry about that instead of what a fool she would undoubtedly make of herself.

Galinda pranced ahead, blabbering and twirling around Tobiq playfully, and the two boys shared a look at the sprightly blonde entertaining them while Elphaba hid in the background. She fidgeted as they got to the club, and Fiyero took her hand, kissing it softly to calm her.

She was just starting to calm down when she saw the group of friends Galinda had mentioned. She'd thought it would be mutual friends of theirs, but it was primarily the guys that were friends with Tobiq and Fiyero. Her fingers tightened on Fiyero's for a moment, making him turn to look at her, but she stared resolutely forward as Avaric approached them.

"Galinda! You look smashing as always," he gave her a lecherous once-over before pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek. Galinda giggled, wrapping herself around Tobiq as the two boys shook hands. Avaric moved to shake Fiyero's hand, and Elphaba tensed. Avaric was quite possibly the single most obnoxious human being ever to walk the face of the earth.

Avaric's eyes slid to Elphaba's face, then down to her hand in Fiyero's, and a cruel smile lit up his face. "Well, hello Miss Elphaba. What brings you out in public?" Tobiq chose this moment to steal Fiyero's help in carrying drinks.

She scowled and crossed her arms, "Hello, Avaric. Glad to see you managed to make it with your pants on this time."

"Well, I heard you were coming. I had to be prepared." He studied her face. "So, did you fall in a box of crayons?"

"How hilarious," she responded dryly, rolling her eyes. "I'll tell Galinda you said so. It's her handiwork."

"Yes, but the artist isn't to blame with a pre-painted canvas." She colored at his comment, hoping if she said nothing he would torment someone else. She was wrong. "So, you have eyes on the prince now, eh? What, did you potion him, too?" She turned to stare at him. "Your little exploits under the influence precede you. Hilarious, I must say."

"Well, you would know about under the influence, wouldn't you?"

"Perhaps, but I certainly don't need a love potion to make a girl want to date me."

"If you used that tiny little brain, you'd figure out I obviously didn't give Fiyero a potion if I was the one drugged, you idiot." She glared, "Not that it's any of your concern."

"Oh, it's not. Trust me, he can have you. But I just worry for his sake. I hate to see my friend taken advantage of by a lonely, bitter shrew who's too freakish to date anyone without magical manipulation. Call me crazy, but I'm just a good friend that way."

"Aren't you quite the humanitarian all of a sudden?"

"Quite."

"Well, you needn't worry. Unlike you, I don't need to drug my dates."

"I can't imagine that Fiyero would…" He stopped, and she felt Fiyero's hand on her waist.

"That I would what? What are we talking about?" Fiyero smiled pleasantly, unaware of the tense conversation he'd interrupted.

"Nothing. I'm sorry, I must get back to my date."

Elphaba scoffed, but she didn't feel like updating Fiyero on the topic of their little chat. Instead, she asked him about the plan. He whispered in her ear, and she smiled as his lips brushed her skin in the process. Fiyero noticed, letting it happen more frequently. After a few rounds, Galinda and Tobiq went dancing, leaving their drinks unattended.

By this point, Elphaba was feeling much more secure about the plan having ingested several glasses of liquid confidence. She nudged Fiyero meaningfully, noticing that they were unobserved. He grinned slyly, sliding Galinda's drink over to his and replacing it with the potion. She giggled, more evidence of her minor inebriation, and he chuckled in return.

Fiyero leaned over to whisper in her ear, brazenly running his lips over her neck on the way, "I love it when you're wicked. It's so sexy." She flushed, nuzzling his neck in return. He tilted her face to his, eyes sincere despite their somewhat dilated pupils. "You really are so beautiful." Before he could say anything else, she kissed him, more forcefully than she had really intended, and he responded in kind. He pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist, and after another long barrage of deep kisses, she pulled back a little.

"We shouldn't do this in public."

"You're right," he nodded, his eyes not leaving hers. "Let's go someplace."

Appalled she started, "Fiyero! Okay," surrendering in record time. Giggling, they stood up only to look over and see Avaric holding the potion. Their jaws dropped in unison, and horrorstruck, Elphaba said, "Avaric, no…"

It was too late. He'd already downed the entire glass. "Man, I was so thirsty. Mmm, that's pretty good."

"Avaric, what is wrong with you? That was for Galinda!" She squeaked, appalled.

"Sorry," he apologized insincerely, "I'll just get her another one."

With a sudden urge to throw up at the sinking feeling in her stomach, Elphaba turned to see Fiyero's jaw still open in disbelief. "What're we going to do?" she hissed quietly, but he was too transfixed by the nightmare to respond.

Avaric gave them another look as if they were crazy, and then turned to go. He stopped suddenly, looking over his shoulder. "You know, Elphaba, you actually look really pretty tonight." Oh, what had they gotten themselves into?


	10. Avaric

Avaric turned around, moving beside Elphaba quickly. How had he never noticed how stunning she looked? Okay, well, he'd noticed, but for Oz's sake, she was green. Who could date a green girl? Although now that he thought about it, her skin was kind of exotic. Sexy. None of the other girls here had green skin. He wondered if it tasted any different.

Fiyero slid his arm around her waist, and Avaric felt the sudden urge to kill him. Instead, he turned to the jade goddess beside him. "Would you like to dance?"

She made a face, "Absolutely not."

"Drink?"

"Get away from me."

"Playing hard to get, huh?" He leaned into her personal space. "I like a challenge." It had been forever since Avaric met a girl that resisted initially, and it just made him look forward to the moment of her surrender all the more.

She shrunk back against damn Fiyero, hissing, "This was such a bad idea. How did I let you talk me into this?"

He grinned at her dismissal of her date, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from Fiyero and into his arms. "That's right. You don't need him anymore." She slapped him, following with a punch to the stomach that almost dropped him to the ground. "Feisty!" he called as she retreated back to her rejected escort. "I love that in a girl."

Fiyero meanwhile was chuckling lightly, until Elphaba turned to him, glaring. With a snort of annoyance, she pulled him with her toward the exit. "Come on."

He pulled back, "But Avaric…" Said boy grinned that even Fiyero knew Elphaba should be leaving with him instead. "We can't just leave him like this."

"A threesome? Kinky," Avaric slid his arm around Elphaba, smelling her hair. He let his lips wander to her ear, "But for you, my sexy little minx…" He got too distracted by her neck to continue, letting his lips taste the soft skin there. Maybe it was his imagination, but it did taste different, a little sweeter reminiscent of juicy fruits, like kiwi. He would have to experiment to confirm the results, kissing every inch of her just to verify his findings.

He started to tell her his plan to test the hypothesis, knowing of her love for Life Sciences, but she pushed him off at his first taste of her yummy skin. "Ugh. He can fend for his sleazy self. In fact, I can hardly notice a difference."

Fiyero gave her a stern look. "We should at least get him somewhere safe to sleep it off."

Avaric furrowed his brows. He hadn't drank that much. "I can hold my liquor perfectly fine, thank you very much!" He pushed Fiyero, very much wanting to do violence to the boy trying to steal his sexy kiwi's heart from him. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Why don't you go get lost and leave us alone?" He was careful this time to not give her any openings to punch him, still feeling the pain in his stomach from the last one. Feisty was fun, but he wasn't a fan of bruises.

The crowd looked up at this, and there were numerous faces of confusion at Avaric holding Elphaba. Fiyero clenched his fists at his side. "Let her go."

"What if I don't want to?" Avaric intimidated back. Who did Fiyero think he was?

"Let her go, now." Fiyero's eyes were hard now, and Avaric wondered if the pansy prince was actually tougher than he seemed. He dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. No way was he going to back down in front of Elphaba. He had always admired her ballsy, tough as nails demeanor, which was rare for a chick, and he doubted he'd ever get to sleep with her if she considered him a pathetic coward.

"Why don't you make me?" He sneered, scoffing as Fiyero didn't make a move. "That's what I thought." He turned to get a victory kiss from his gorgeous Elphie, only to feel Fiyero push him. Blinking he turned back. "Stop it, Fiyero, or I'm going to have to hurt you."

Fiyero glared, "I said, let her go," and he unbelievably pushed Avaric again.

Angry now, Avaric hissed, "You want me to kick your ass? Fine." He released Elphaba, who quickly moved back out of reach to let him fight, and without another look, he punched Fiyero hard in an uppercut. Fiyero returned with a few jabs to Avaric's jaw. Maybe his opponent had a little more fight to him than Avaric realized. Elphaba cried out for them to stop, but neither boy heeded her command. He tried to land a right hook, only to be deflected and punched hard in his still tender stomach.

They were now surrounded by people cheering them on, both for and against him. He pushed Fiyero into a group of his friends, laughing as the prince got back up. He was about to finish him off when Fiyero landing a combination of punches so fast that he couldn't even count them. With a finishing kick, Avaric reeled back in surprise. He was about to return with a volley of his own when Elphaba broke through the ring of spectators, pushing between the boys.

She glared, hard, "I said stop it. You're acting like a pair of jackasses. Both of you." The last part was directed at Fiyero, who sulked at her words. "Come on. We're leaving."

"Look, baby, no offense, but we're in the middle of something here." He smiled at her cute overestimation of her authority. "Why don't you just wait for me at the door?" He patted her butt, smiling at how firm it was until she spun around and twisted his fingers. He gasped at the excruciating and unexpected pain.

"If you ever," she snarled through clenched teeth, "touch me like that again, I swear I will make sure you live to regret it. Do I make myself clear?" When he didn't answer fast enough, she squeezed his throbbing fingers and repeated herself more threateningly, "Do I _make _myself _clear?!" _

He fought a whimper. "Yeah." She released him, and he shook his fingers lightly. If she weren't so attractive, he'd have kicked her tight little butt right there, girl or not. But the sight of her fierce face and dominating posture turned him on so completely that he could forgive her for the minor embarrassment and pain. This time.

"Come on." Her authoritative tone left no room for argument, and as she stalked out of the club, people parted quickly to get out of her way. The two boys followed her sullenly, but Avaric at least admired the view.

When they reached the door, Fiyero put his hand back on her waist. "Oz, Elphie that was so hot."


	11. Dressing Down

Fiyero tried hard to behave as he walked beside a very ticked off Elphaba. They had barely managed to get Avaric to his room in one piece, and even then Elphaba had very narrowly escaped a kiss goodnight. The only casualty was her new dress, nearly strapless after Avaric's manhandling. He set his hand on her waist protectively at the memory, and she almost growled at him in annoyance. She really was unbelievably sexy when she was angry. "Elphie?"

"Don't call me that," she snarled.

He wanted her so badly. He moved behind her, sliding his arms around her. "Can I call you baby, then?" She snorted, pushing him away. Undeterred, he whispered in her ear, letting his fingers trace over her bare arms, "Or sweetheart?" She scoffed again, but it was contradicted by her weakening struggles. "Or if you want me to be more like Avaric, I could call you kitten."

"If you start acting like Avaric, I'll kick your butt myself."

He chuckled. "So kitten's out? Too bad." She rolled her eyes, but her small smile was reward enough. Releasing her, he sighed, "I suppose it's Elphaba for now. But rest assured you will be nicknamed soon enough."

"Why do you feel the need to give me a ridiculous nickname?"

He brushed his lips lightly over hers. "I don't like sharing you with others, even your name." At her blush, he tucked her hair behind her ear. "I can never have enough of you, and there simply not an inch of you to spare."

She smiled at that, and they stood outside enjoying kiss after blissful kiss. He was starting to feel that crazy feeling that told him to throw her onto a bed in the next five seconds or explode, so he pulled away reluctantly. She unlocked the door, and he worked to catch his breath enough to tell her goodnight. That is, until she gave him a hungry look, taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom, her intense eyes not leaving his.

Sweet Oz.

Every thought in his head instantly dissolved. His brain just turned completely off, having lost its supply of blood for the moment. Oh, he was in serious trouble. His heart was beating overtime, and this sweet death by anticipation was enough to make him overlook the boy already lying on Elphaba's bed. Wait. What? That's not right…

She hesitated at his confused look and turned around. "AVARIC!" she screamed. "What in the name of Oz do you think you are doing on my bed!"

The boy sauntered over, stealing Elphaba's hand out of Fiyero's grasp as he still shook his head at the impossibility of it. It was when the cocky little pretender took Fiyero's position with arms around her that he snapped out of it. "Hey!"

"Well hello, my little green skittle of love," Avaric cooed in her ear, "Did you miss me?"

"Ugh," she shuddered in revulsion as Avaric aimed a kiss for her neck. "Get off me now if you want to keep all your limbs."

"Still playing hard to get? What stamina," he winked, leering at the top of her dress that he'd effective lowered several inches with his strap tailoring. She realized the drop in her neckline now, blushing and covering the exposed cleavage with one hand while soundly thrashing the boy with the other.

Fiyero grabbed the first whole piece of clothing he could without even looking at it and thrust girl and dress into the bathroom. Then he spun around, guarding the door from Avaric. "How the hell did you even get in here?" he demanded.

Avaric grinned, bragging. "Practice." His eyes flicked to the window that still was open. Maybe the two of them had spent more time in the hallway than they'd imagined. "What? Jealous how many girls' windows I've climbed through?"

Fiyero scoffed. "Hardly. I've never needed to use the window."

"Oh right. Little Mr. Popular Prince," Avaric circled him as much as he could with Fiyero's back against the door. "You never even dated anyone here except the girls in this room."

"Well, what can I say? I have standards." He watched the boy's arrogant face twist into a scowl. "You can have the rest. I have the only one that matters."

Avaric glared at him. "We'll see about that."

Elphaba chose this moment to open the door, and Fiyero had to bite his lip. She looked, for lack of a better word, hilarious. The dress was Galinda's, and the wannabe fairy costume did not fit in the slightest. Pink and poofy, her sleeves only came to a little past her elbow. All she would have needed was Galinda's little wand to be truly riotous. She walked out regally daring any hint of mirth, and though she retained her indestructible dignity, the effect was ruined by the pursed lips and fierce scowl. "Don't say a word."

She stalked over to her closet to retrieve a more suitable garment, and though his face was red from repressing it, he didn't laugh. Avaric, still sputtering, recovered his voice as she returned dressed. "You're so lucky that your body is so sexy because damn woman..."

"Avaric, get lost." She was going to burst a blood vessel. "NOW!"

He smirked. "Oh, I see. You need to get rid of him first." She rolled her eyes, not even bothering to contradict the raving lunatic. "No, no, that's fine. I'll come back when you're done playing dress up." He chuckled, leaning close to brush his lips against her deflecting cheek. "All the more fun to undress you later." He breezed out, leaving the door open behind him.

"I really and truly, thoroughly and absolutely loathe that worthless, despicable and unredeemably vile creature!" At least she was making progress on expressing her feelings. Fiyero closed door and window, making sure both were securely locked. "He is so disgusting. Can you burn off my skin where he touched me please?"

"How's this?" He leaned over, reclaiming her cheek from the memory of Avaric's kiss with one of his one.

She murmured her assent as his fingers brushed over her face and hair. "Mmm. Much better." When he pulled back, she grinned mischievously, the anger melting away. "I think he touched me here, too." She pointed to her neck, and he nodded.

"You know, I think you're right." He bent his lips to the soft skin there, Avaric forgotten as she sighed gently under his ministrations.

"Don't forget my shoulder. Ugh, remember the straps?" She shivered, though now in a mixture of repulsive memories and sweet anticipation.

"How could I forget?" Fiyero smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be very thorough." She let out a soft breath as he slid the zipper of her dress down just an inch, moving behind her without ceasing his work teasing her neck. He gathered her fantastic hair, moving it in front of her shoulder and out of his way. With each inch he unzipped, he placed a kiss along her spine until she was gasping at each brief contact.

The dress hung loosely on her shoulders now, and he slid his hands underneath to slip over the bare skin of her back. "Oh, 'Yero," she breathed sexily. Just when he thought he couldn't want her more…

The knock on the door made both of them jump, and Fiyero got up to answer it while Elphaba rapidly refastened her dress. Galinda breezed in, "I forgot my keys. What are you two up to?" She winked scandalously at them both, and Elphie blushed.

"Avaric," was all she said, and with her glare, she indicated it was not open for discussion.

"At least he'll be normal in the morning," Fiyero sighed softly, though he shared a dark look with Elphaba. "Maybe I should stay with you two tonight. You know, just for safety purposes." The last thing he wanted was for Avaric to work his way back in. He tried hard to convince himself that was the only reason, not the tantalizing idea of holding her beautiful body against him while they slept again.

* * *

Elphaba yawned lazily, snuggling into Fiyero's shoulder. He shifted, half-awake at best, and started rubbing her back lightly underneath her shirt with an unintelligible murmur. He would definitely have to sleep here more often. Though it was difficult to behave with his bare, beautiful skin against her, Galinda was a willing chaperone, giggling every time she heard them kiss.

Speaking of, she leaned up to kiss her wakening pillow, smiling at he returned her affection. "Morning beautiful." She merely smiled, returning to occupy his lips. Across the room, they heard a muffled giggle, and Elphaba sighed, sitting up. Reluctantly she left the comfort of her bed to dress, smiling all the more when she saw Fiyero still stretched across it on her way back. He really was remarkably attractive. It shouldn't be allowed to look so good first thing in the morning.

He ran a hand through his ruffled hair, and she forgot all thoughts of class, moving back to him. He smiled as she approached, laughing as she threw her arms around him, kissing him deeply. "I missed you, too." The chuckle low in his throat was delicious, and she moved to kiss his Adam's apple as it bounced temptingly with his laughter. The new round of giggles from their hidden accomplice did not deter her this time, and they continued waking each other slowly until Galinda was dressed and leaving.

"Bye." She giggled again as she stood by the door. "You two be good." They were about to be blissfully alone when Elphaba heard a loud bang from the door. Looking up, she saw Galinda's flailing over a body lying by the doorway on the other side. "Oof! I think it's for you." She pouted, standing up and dusting herself off.

Elphaba got up, curiosity overwhelming her as she went to investigate. Fiyero called from the bed, "What is it?"

She rolled her eyes, slamming the door. "Avaric."

Between the door and Galinda, Avaric had woken, inviting himself in before Elphaba could finish locking him out. He groaned holding his head, no doubt with quite the potion hangover as it wore off. "What do you want?" Without a word, he looped his arms around her, pulling her to his lips.

"You." He kissed her passionately, though she struggled to break free until Fiyero managed to drag her from the creep. She shuddered, feeling the immediate need to vomit at the feeling of Avaric's tongue still vivid in her memory. She retreated to Fiyero's side, wiping her mouth as if she could erase the reality of it.

"So much for back to normal." She hissed to Fiyero, his arm tightening around her waist. "What are we going to do now?"


	12. True Confessions

AN: I'm so sorry it's been so long. Work has been absolutely insane, and right when it started to let up, I caught the flu. I'll spare you the gross details, but I should be back to updating more regularly again. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and I made this chapter a little longer to make up for its previous neglect. Thanks for reading. :-)

* * *

Fiyero stared in disbelief as Avaric flopped back onto Elphie's bed, somehow miraculously immune to that vicious glare of hers. "So, my little cucumber, how much did you miss me last night? I'll be honest. I had a very memorable dream about you. You should wear leather more often."

She bristled, and Fiyero contemplated beating the snot out of the jerk for a long moment. However, the knowledge that they were the ones ultimately responsible for Avaric's unfortunate attraction to Fiyero's girlfriend somewhat stole the wind out of his sails. He pulled Elphaba into his arms as much to restrain her as to comfort her. "It's only the potion talking, baby. Just ignore him."

"Ugh! And to think I merely hated him before," she muttered, shuddering as Avaric blew her a kiss. "I positively loathe you, you despicable cretin. Get off of my bed before I have to burn the sheets."

"Kinky." He winked, eyes traveling lewdly down her pajamas, "Whatever kind of foreplay you like, baby. I'm game."

"You'll shut up if you know what's good for you." Fiyero warned, and he was suddenly certain there was no way the three of them would leave the room alive. What they needed was a plan, and from the fuming look in Elphaba's eyes, Fiyero was afraid every moment she spent with Avaric would only lead to a more elaborate, creative and thoroughly brilliant plan – of how to dismember Avaric. "Conference," he whispered as he pulled Elphaba into the bathroom, locking the door.

She slid down the wall, head in her hands. "Will this nightmare never end?"

"Don't worry Elphie." He sat beside her, pulling her against his side. "We'll figure this out." Suddenly he wished he were smarter, or more trained at actually using his cobwebbed brain. She looked so miserable, so he ran a hand down her cheek and under her chin, tipping her face up to him. "It'll be alright, I promise."

She smiled, though it was clear she didn't believe him. "Can we just stay in the bathroom forever?"

"Absolutely." He grinned. "Then I'd get to watch you shower."

Even Elphaba had to chuckle after a fake groan and witty quip. He took the opportunity to drop a swift, chaste kiss on her smiling lips before they could revert back to their familiar scowl. Avaric was quite a poor influence on her facial features it seemed.

After a beat of silence, their moment of levity gave way to Avaric's pounding on the door. Fiyero turned to her, "So, the plan?"

She looked at him intently, but he could only blink back blankly. He was not the one known for his ingenuity or rational skills. With a sigh, she tilted her head to rest against the wall. "I don't understand what we did wrong." He waited for her brilliant mind to work it out, tracing her hand absentmindedly. She was so soft that it constantly took him by surprise. "Why didn't it wear off?" Fiyero shrugged, moving to her wrist. "And how did I get stuck with Avaric hitting on _me_?"

"Because you're beautiful, and everyone's secretly in love with you," he said, pleased to finally have a question to which he knew the answer.

Her laugh was genuine, though he hadn't been joking. She squeezed his fingers, momentarily stilling his journey up and down her arm. "No, Fiyero, I'm pretty sure you're the only one crazy enough for that."

He dropped a kiss in her palm before refuting her. "Obviously not."

She frowned. Lost in thought again, her response was so delayed that Fiyero had almost forgotten his statement. "No, I must have done something wrong. I don't know how to fix the semi-permanence, but maybe if I mix…" He zoned out as she argued with herself over ingredients and strategies. "Okay," she announced finally, regaining his attention that since had wandered, "I think I can at least get Avaric off our backs until this potion wears off."

"Are you sure it will? Wear off, I mean."

"Sure," her real answer in the uncertain expression covering her face. "Why wouldn't it?"

He shot her a skeptical look, but kept his opinions to himself. "So what's the plan?" She told him what she needed, and he bravely volunteered to gather the materials. With a deep breath, he shoved the door open quickly enough to shock Avaric into falling back before he could sneak into their sanctuary. Maneuvering back in was considerably harder, but Fiyero managed it barely, slamming the door shut milliseconds before Avaric's fingers could jam their way in.

She set up shop fairly quickly on the edge of the bathtub, and he smiled as he watched her efficiently mix the chemicals. Oz, she was smart. She blew him away. Finally, she beamed, "There. This should make him be honest about his true feelings."

Fiyero suddenly wished he'd been smart enough to ask her what she was doing before she'd mixed it. How could she, fantastic genius that she was, not understand that Avaric wasn't being dishonest in his attraction for her? He sighed, but any argument of his was pointless. The supposed cure was already made, and Fiyero figured it couldn't do much more harm. With a deep breath, the two opened the bathroom door, braving the assault of Avaric's neglected hormones.

Simultaneously there was a knock on the hallway door, and Elphaba shook her head tiredly. "What now?"

Avaric, who was already trying to rid himself of the current obstacle to his plans with the object of his desire, scowled at this new arrival. As Fiyero opened to door to reveal a tall munchkin, Avaric tried to shove him out and slam the door. Luckily Fiyero was not the useless pretty boy he appeared to be. He shoved his way back in, and a very confused Boq slipped through the door after him.

Boq directed his question to Elphaba as the other two boys continued their scuffle. "Um, is Galinda here? She was supposed to meet me for…what's that?"

Elphaba quickly hid the cure behind her back and plastered on a huge, fake smile that fooled no one. "Nothing."

He gave her a suspicious look, only to be knocked onto Galinda's bed by an ill-timed shove from Avaric which sent Fiyero flying straight into the smaller boy. Boq's face colored once he realized where he'd landed. Elphaba helped him up, rolling her eyes at his bashful expression, and Fiyero could have sworn he saw the munchkin sniff Galinda's pillow slightly before he was back on his feet.

Avaric glowered, "Hands off my woman, munchkin." He shoved Boq, whose return to his previous position was obviously met with a mixture of embarrassment and glee. Whether by self-preservation or desire, Boq remained safely on the bed rather than risk exacerbating the situation.

Elphaba's glare was deadly, and she was clenching her hands around their antidote so tightly, Fiyero was afraid the glass would break. "I am _not_, nor will I ever be, your woman" she hissed. "You are a disgusting pig that should never be allowed to reproduce for the good of all mankind."

He merely laughed in return, slinging his arm around Elphaba's shoulders. "Ooh, I love it when you talk dirty." Only the fact that it was a potion inside kept her from dumping it all over him. Fiyero almost laughed at Boq's expression of shocked disbelief, his jaw somewhere near his ankles. That is, until Avaric leaned in and said, "You know, you're really pretty when you get all riled up. Come on. Give us a kiss."

"I'd rather eat broken glass," she deadpanned in response. She shrugged his arm off, moving to stand by Fiyero for backup.

Boq finally managed to reclaim his jaw enough to ask, "What's going on?"

Avaric slid over to loom threatening. "You're leaving is what's going on. You and Fiyero have about twelve seconds to get lost before we start getting naked right in front of you."

Wide-eyed, the boy hopped up, only to have Elphaba push him back down, fighting a gag. "The only way I would get naked in front of you is if I were on fire. And even then, I think I'd rather just burn."

Avaric was undoubtedly making another sleazy comment about how he could set her on fire, or something equally cheesy, but Fiyero intervened, nudging Elphaba and pointing at the antidote. The sooner they cured the guy, the sooner they could get rid of him. "Play nice," he whispered to her, "so he'll drink it, and we can finally get him out of here."

She was clearly displeased with this plan, but recognizing the irrefutability, she forced a tense smile. "Oh, Avaric, you're so clever," she couldn't hide the sarcasm, but she did manage to conceal her eyes rolling. She set her hand on his bicep and disguised her sneer of disgust as a thin smile. Wincing, Elphaba shot Fiyero a desperate look, and he tried to look reassuring.

Avaric oozed, "Like what you see, kitten?"

She bit her tongue before she managed to hiss out through clenched teeth. "Oh yeah, you're so sexy. I'm secretly in love with you."

"You know, doll," he leaned down to whisper in her ear, and Fiyero saw Elphaba's skin crawl from the contact, "it's not really a secret."

She looked mutinous, but with a sympathetic look, Fiyero pointed to the glass in her hand to remind her that deliverance was only a gulp away. He, meanwhile, was using every ounce of willpower not to go pull his girlfriend away from the lecher and bash Avaric's brains in. She held out the glass, "I made this for you. I hope you like it."

"Aw, aren't you sweet?" Avaric cooed, his arm now firmly wrapped around her waist. Before he could make some chauvinistic comment women and cooking, she shoved the glass into his hands, guiding it up to his mouth. At the last second, however, he pulled the glass away and yanked her toward him, taking her by surprise.

Fiyero crossed the room in about two steps, but it was too late to prevent the deep kiss that Avaric planted on Elphaba. She flailed, trying to break free, and he managed to catch the glass and set it down while simultaneously extracting his girlfriend from the miserable wretch's grasp. "What the hell are you doing?"

Avaric grinned widely. "I'm kissing her. I figured she would taste better than whatever that is."

Fiyero protectively pulled Elphaba back into their sanctuary to calm her down before trying to consider a second attempt. By the time their blood pressures had both dropped, enough time had passed that he vaguely hoped that Avaric would be gone. No such luck, he saw as they emerged, though he was surprised to see Boq still here.

That was nothing compared to his surprise when Boq blurted out, "I hate you, Fiyero."

"Huh?" was his ever so intelligent answer.

"I hate you because you got to go out with Galinda, and like an idiot, you broke up with her. I hate you because you got to kiss her, and smell her hair, and …"

"Okay, but we broke up," Fiyero cut him off before he could continue on the list of grievances, each one tightening Elphaba's smile. At another time, he would have appreciated the jealousy, but now he was more focused on keeping his girlfriend calm, which this was certainly _not_ doing. "Why bring it up now?"

Elphaba gasped suddenly, and Fiyero's eyes followed hers to trail from the empty glass in Boq's hand to Avaric's smug smile. Avaric answered with a wink, "I heard you two scheming in the bathroom. You're not going to get rid of me that easily, sugar-celery."

"Why would you drink that, Boq?" she turned on the munchkin, and Fiyero couldn't help but think that if everyone would just drink from their own glass, the world would be a much better place.

"Avaric told me to," he replied simply. "He's scary."

"You stupid idiot! I can't believe you took something from Avaric!" she screeched angrily, and Fiyero was very, very glad he was off the hook for this one.

Boq added with a tongue loosened by the truth serum, "You're scary, too, Elphie. Please don't eat me." She blinked at him a moment before turning an odd red shade under the naturally green tint of her skin. "Poor Galinda, stuck with a scary roommate that kisses her ex-boyfriend in front of her."

Fiyero intervened, probably saving the fool's life, "Galinda set us up. We broke up ages ago. She's perfectly happy with Elphaba for a roommate."

"Let's go ask her." He bobbed up, giving a last reluctant look to the bed and bolting off to find his blonde mistress.

After a second of shock, Fiyero and Elphaba burst after him in pursuit, not wanting another victim of their inadequate potioning skills loose in the general population, with Avaric trailing behind them. They caught up to Boq as he entered the cafeteria, a dark dread forming in the pit of Fiyero's stomach.

Boq was striding toward his goddess now, only to be stopped by his girlfriend. "Not now Nessa," he cast aside her greeting, a munchkin on a mission. She reached out for him, snagging a part of his sleeve, but he shrugged her off angrily. "Nessa, get off me. I'm not in the mood for you."

Elphaba winced beside Fiyero, and he slid a comforting arm around her, knowing how protective she was of her sister. Nessa called to Boq more demandingly this time, grabbing his leg. Angry now, Boq shoved her away so forcefully, he actually knocked over her wheelchair. With a gasp, they rushed to help the fallen girl. "Are you alright?" Fiyero asked her gently, trying to right the chair and replace her in its seat.

Boq meanwhile strode onward in his mission of conquest without a backward glance, climbing atop a nearby table. "Everyone, listen for a minute, I have an announcement." His call for attention was completely unnecessary as everyone had fallen silent at the spectacle of Nessa's crash, staring at the normally mild-mannered boy with open mouths.

Galinda had risen, moving toward Nessa to help the poor girl, but Boq caught her shoulder, grabbing her hand and holding her captive from his place on the table. "Boq, what's the matter with you?"

"I am completely, totally, and one hundred percent in love with this beautiful angel right here, Galinda Upland." He bent to kiss her hand dramatically, but she yanked it away to cover her gasping mouth. Off-balance, Boq toppled over, banging his head on the bench on his way down. With a groan, he finally ended in a pile of splayed arms and legs on the ground at her feet.

"Oh my goodness, Boq, are you okay?" she asked with concern, bending down to see if he was bleeding.

"No," he moaned dramatically. "Love hurts." With another pathetic groan, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he passed out.


	13. Hangover

Boq groaned, reluctantly rising from the anesthesia of sleep to the roaring sound of his own headache. Never in his life had he felt so awful, including that time that he'd caught the Quadling Flu when he was eight and thrown up thirty-seven times in a row. Grunting in exertion, he forced himself into a sitting position. Regret coursed through him immediately, and he was about to flop back to the relative comfort of his pillow when he heard the knocking. He briefly considered ignoring them, but each sharp rap brought a new stab of pain.

A quick glance confirmed that he was, in fact, without the benefit of clothing, though he was at least in his own room. He pulled on a pair of pants, stumbling to the door. A pretty girl he recognized as one of Nessa's friends stood there, glaring at him. "Um, hello?" he asked weakly, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to keep the confusion off his face. "Can I help you?"

She scowled, crossing her arms irritably, and pointed at his bare torso. He blushed, pulling on a shirt awkwardly as he couldn't quite coordinate his aching head through the hole. Meekly he looked back at the angry girl who merely rolled her eyes. "I just came to tell you," she spat out the words with unexpected bitterness, "that you should be ashamed."

He blinked. "I'm sorry," was his automatic response, a useful skill when dealing with his particular girlfriend, but he didn't usually have to apologize to her friends as well. "Um, for what?"

The girl's jaw dropped, only to be followed by such a fierce look that Boq immediately regretted asking. Before he could apologize again, she slapped him hard across the face, and he saw stars explode behind his already aching eyes. He staggered back only to fall over a discarded pair of pants, and he crashed painfully into the side of the desk. By the time he had righted himself, she had stomped off.

"What was that about?" he breathed. He couldn't remember doing anything even remotely deserving of such treatment, let alone to a girl whose name he couldn't even recall. Indignant, he set out in search of Nessa to find out who this girl was so he could demand an apology. Within a few minutes, he repented the decision to leave his room. Everyone was staring at him oddly, and he self-consciously checked to see if his clothes were mismatched or revealing or something.

"Nessa," he breathed in relief when he reached her room and she opened the door, "I'm so glad to see you. Are you alright?" Her puffy, red-rimmed eyes were slitted as if she intended to skewer him simply with her vision.

"What the poo is wrong with you?" she snarled.

"Um…I don't know?" This was possibly the strangest and worst day in his life.

"Get out!" she screamed. She moved to close the door, but he wedged it open with his foot.

"Dearest, what's wrong? Have I done something?"

A bloodcurdling shriek of rage was her only response, and she slammed the door hard on his foot, making him cry out in pain. With a perversely angry smile, she slammed the door over and over again on his foot (and hand when he tried to catch the door to stop her). Hopping back, he retreated as she slammed the door shut. "What was that for?" he called, unable to keep the anger from his voice, and he knew at once that was a mistake when she flung the door open and catapulted her wheelchair straight for him.

Flailing at him with her fists, she rammed him to the ground, screeching at him all the substitute profanities his prim, religious girlfriend could bear to say. "You, you, you mother-futon! Why don't you go see your little _angel_?" she managed to fit enough revulsion in that last word to make it far more effective than the most obscene vulgarity conceivable.

He didn't dare ask who, fearing she might snap…well, further. Instead, he merely cowered on the ground until she howled her last "Son of motherless goat!" and wheeled back into her room. Moaning, he rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as if it held any explanation for the torments being visited on him today. It merely mocked him with its placid plainness. Sighing, he tried to remember what he could have done yesterday to incur the wrath of so many girls. He remembered nothing eventful until he went to meet Galinda, only to be stood up which was regrettably quite normal.

Everything got a little fuzzy then. He wanted to say Avaric had been there, hitting on Elphaba and fighting with Fiyero, but that was crazy. Avaric and Elphaba hated each other, even more than she and Galinda had when they moved in. Suddenly a memory of Galinda's bed floated up in his brain with startling clarity. What?! No. No way had he been in Galinda's bed, but even as he denied it to himself, the distinct feeling of her sheets, the softness of her pillows, the surprisingly scratchy fabric of her lacy quilt confirmed it as fact.

The blood drained from his face. He had slept with Galinda!

No wonder Nessa was furious with him, and her friends wanted to kill him. At the thought of Nessa, shame flooded him until his cheeks burned. He had to talk to Galinda about what had happened. Reluctantly, he forced himself to his feet and staggered toward her room. He couldn't help a bitter thought, even in spite of his guilt, that he had finally slept with the unattainable Galinda who he'd been secretly in love with for years, only to have no memory of it to cherish. Of all the rotten luck.

Boq gulped down his fear and knocked on her door resolutely, but when the door opened, he completely blanked. "Oh, it's just you," he sighed in relief when he saw Elphaba standing there.

"Gee, thanks Boq. You're such a charmer. Did you just come to insult me?"

He bit back a grouchy reply. "Is Galinda home?"

She smirked at him as she told him no, ruffled his hair and gestured for him to come in. "I'm sure she'll be back soon. Which plans did she forget this time?" He plopped in her chair, dropping his head in his hands. "Aw, why the glum face?"

He started to tell Elphaba to shove off, but then he considered that his friend's abnormal level-headedness might be just the thing he needed at the moment. He opened his mouth to speak when the door banged open, framing a most unlikely sight.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Elphaba rolled her eyes, her fingers flying to her temples.

"What are you trying to pull, munchkin?" Avaric's angry voice called from the doorway.

Elphaba's face transformed into a knot of scowls and glares. "What are you doing here? Oz, Avaric can't you leave me alone? What is your problem?"

"That little Don Juan is my problem!" Avaric crossed the room quickly, grabbing Boq by the scruff of his shirt. Boq couldn't help thinking this was not his day at all.

"Put him down," she demanded, but Avaric only jerked him up. "I said," she commanded fiercely in that way that terrified anyone, particularly those who'd seen her combust nearby objects when angry, "put him down." Avaric smirked, tossing Boq into the opposite wall. Boq slid down the wall to land in a heap and wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.

"First Galinda, now he's trying to seduce you? Why can't the little bugger just keep it in his pants?" Avaric growled and advanced a menacing step toward him.

Galinda and Fiyero chose this moment to walk in, eyes widening in unison at the sight of the three of them.

Boq gathered himself to his feet, and took Galinda's hand. "Galinda, I think we need to talk," his voice measured and serious. She turned pink, withdrew her hand, and retreated behind Elphaba.

"No, Boq, that's really not necessary. Just forget about it." She was looking at him like he was a raving lunatic ready to strike at any moment. Honestly, he wasn't Avaric.

"No, Galinda, I can't just forget about it," he took one step forward, and everyone tensed, Elphaba and Fiyero sharing a dark look over his head.

"Really, you don't have to apologize. Let's just put it behind us," she squeaked, keeping Elphaba between them like a strange green, eye-rolling shield.

He sighed in annoyance, "Galinda, come on. We can't just ignore it." He took another step forward, only to have Avaric suddenly charge him. The rest of the tussle was far too disorienting for him to sort out, and he ended up on the bottom of a dog pile with Avaric's elbow digging painfully in his stomach and Fiyero's knee connected far too close to his groin for comfort.

Galinda was wide-eyed, and Elphaba was beyond exasperated as she pulled them off. "He started it," Avaric muttered petulantly, and of course the rest of them all started bickering loudly.

"Look," Boq's temper exploded, "I've had a really bad day, and all I want to do is talk to Galinda about us sleeping together last night, so if you all can just take your drama elsewhere, that'd be great!"

Around him, four jaws dropped to the floor. "What?" Elphaba spun on her heel, staring at Galinda. "You slept with Boq? When?"

"I didn't!" Galinda shouted, her face brighter than Rudolph's nose. "I don't have idea what he's talking about. Honestly. First the cafeteria, now this. What did I ever do to you?" The last was aimed at him, and he hesitated as her accusatory tone.

"What do you mean? We didn't sleep together?" His head swam, and no wonder with all the hits he'd taken today.

"Of course not!" she declared.

"Ouch. Okay, that was a bit harsh." She softened a little, giving him an apologetic half-smile. "Wait, what about the cafeteria? And if I didn't sleep with you, why is Nessa so upset?"

They all shared a look. Fiyero cleared his throat. "Um, you kind of pushed Nessa over and declared your undying love for Galinda."

"In front of the whole school," Avaric added maliciously, slipping his arm around Elphaba covertly only to have her crunch his fingers together painfully.

Boq paled. "I think I need to sit down."

Fiyero moved and whispered something to Elphaba, who seemed to disagree. They argued for a moment, until finally he turned to their curious audience. "I think it's time we come clean."


	14. Too Many

Galinda scooted further away from the odd little munchkin, and she giggled when Elphie did likewise before Avaric could complete his sneaky reach toward her backside. Fiyero, now flanked on each side by the harried girls, was addressing the group a bit sheepishly. "Um, Boq, you accidentally took a potion that Elphaba and I were working on. It made you tell the tru-"

"Made you act oddly," Elphaba interrupted, shooting Fiyero a look. He amended his statement with her words awkwardly, more proof that he was a terrible liar.

Boq frowned, "Wait, so you poisoned me?"

"No!" Elphaba said. "You weren't supposed to drink it. Avaric tricked you into taking it for him."

Avaric responded, "Well, if you hadn't tried to trick me into drinking it, then I wouldn't have had to trick the little pipsqueak, would I?"

Galinda cut off Elphie's response, "Wait, why were you trying to give Avaric a potion?" Surely Elphaba hadn't been trying to set herself up with Avaric! Not after all the trouble Galinda had gone to in order to set her roommate up with Fiyero.

"So he'd leave me alone!" Elphaba wailed, batting his hands away from her waist. "Oz, I wish he'd never drank any of that potion to start with."

Fiyero winced even as Boq said, "Wait, but I thought I was the one who drank the potion?"

"Um, you were," she blushed deeply.

"Then how did Avaric drink it?"

Her mouth opened and closed uselessly, and she shot Fiyero a desperate look. He answered, "Because he drank the potion at the club, and you drank his antidote." At their curious looks, he surrendered, recognizing that it was all going to come out eventually. "We were going to pull a prank on Galinda, but Avaric drank it instead.

"What?!" Galinda shrieked. "You were going to what?" She backed away from Fiyero as if he had a highly contagious disease, only to bump into Boq. He caught her with a steadying hand that fell a little farther north than he'd expected, and she swatted at him, pushing away with a screech. Her flight from Boq sent her careening into Elphaba, who in turn toppled heavily on Avaric, pressing him onto her bed.

Avaric took full advantage of this situation, wrapping his arms around her waist, and despite the struggles of both her and Fiyero, she remained quite trapped against him. "I knew it was only a matter of time before we ended up in bed together," Avaric smirked, and Elphaba shoved him hard in the stomach, finally freeing herself.

She shuddered before volleying back another quip, and Galinda interrupted before they could gain too much momentum in their insult war. "Elphie, is it true? You were going to potion me?" She felt her lip start to quiver. "I thought we were best friends."

For her part, Elphie looked ashamed. "It was just a joke," she supplied lamely. "Besides, you potioned Fiyero and me first!"

"Ugh! I did not!" She didn't appreciate their skeptical looks, so she clarified, "I only pretended to."

"Oh, that's loads better," Fiyero muttered under his breath.

She crossed her arms petulantly. "It is."

Elphaba still looked disgruntled, but Fiyero said, "You're right. We're sorry. It was wrong of us to play a joke on you." He elbowed Elphaba, who nodded.

With a suspicious look, Galinda asked, "Wait, why did you give me a love potion to fall in love with Elphaba?"

She didn't think her roommate could turn so many shades of red. Fiyero doubled over with laughter. "We…didn't give you a potion…to make you fall in love with…," he choked out through his guffaws, wailing out the last word, "Elphaba!"

"You were just supposed to flirt with someone you liked," Elphaba clarified, but Galinda was still confused.

"But I already do that." This brought a bought of laughter from the entire room. "I do! All the time!"

Holding in his mirth, Fiyero said, "Yes, of course. You're right. It was a very poor potion." Eyes downcast, Galinda pouted and plopped on the edge of her bed to wait for the boys to stop laughing.

Elphie sat beside her. "See, Galinda, we didn't mean any harm. Really. Please forgive us?"

The sincerity in her roommate's voice won her over. Being the goodly person she was, Galinda threw her arms around her, "Of course I forgive you! You're my bestest friend!" She was so proud of herself for being so goodly that she announced, "In fact, I'll help you. Ooh, I'll cast a spell to help you with Avaric."

She snatched up her wand before anyone could argue, waving it in large circles. "Now I will change Avaric into a perfect gentleman, ooh, like Jamoz Bond, that cute secret agent." With a flourish, she pointed her wand at him and commanded, "Jamoz Bond!"

Avaric raised an eyebrow at her, and she frowned. "Bond! Jamoz Bond! Is this on?" She whacked the wand a few times on the bed trying to activate it, much to the collective anxiety of the boys in the room. Elphaba, having seen her work this particular magic with a certain ball gown, merely smiled, and smoothly disarmed her.

"You know, Galinda, that's really ok."

"Actually," Fiyero interjected, "Maybe she can help. The potion hasn't worn off him I think because the magic was too strong." Elphaba nodded, so Fiyero continued, "So…why doesn't Galinda make one? No offense, Galinda, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as strong as the ones you make Elphaba."

"Ooh, you're right!" Galinda's face lit up. She'd get to make a real potion. "Elphie's much more magical than I am."

"I wouldn't say that," Elphaba protested, which Boq heartily seconded.

The blonde frowned at the munchkin's flirtation, turning back to Elphaba. "Oh please Elphie!"

"How do you fit that many E's into every sentence?" her roommate answered, and Galinda knew she had weakened. One more set of puppy dog eyes directed at her, and Elphaba cratered. "Fine." Galinda clapped her hands together happily.

Avaric set aside his objections to watch with the other boys, amused as Galinda wandered into disaster after disaster. By the time the potion was finally made, Elphaba was covered in soot, foam, and an icky brown goop from Galinda's other attempts that had exploded messily as soon as she set them down. Glass in hand, Elphaba wearily pushed her frazzled hair out of her face and advanced on Avaric.

He smirked at her, "So what makes you think I'll actually drink that?"

"It will make you stop acting like a jackass." She thought a second, "Scratch that. It will make you act like a jackass, but far, far away from me."

"What if I don't want to go far, far away from you?" he countered. "In fact, I'd like to get closer to you." And he did just that, striding across the room.

She sighed at his wink. "It will make you go back to flirting with girls who inexplicably actually like you."

"You like me," he grinned. "You just don't know it yet."

Exasperated, Elphaba crossed her arms. "Fine, it will make me happy. If you care about me, you should want me to be happy, right?"

He thought a second, then shook his head. "I'll tell you what I want." She glared at him. "I want a kiss."

"No."

"Well, that's my price. If you really want me to drink that potion and get rid of me like you say you do, all it will cost you is a kiss. And a real kiss, none of this kissing my cheek nonsense."

Elphaba glanced at Fiyero, who squeezed her hand. He frowned at Avaric for a second, but then shrugged weakly. "It'll get rid of him," he offered.

She wrinkled her nose. "Wait, how do I know you'll hold up your end?"

Avaric leaned over her, licking his lips lightly. "You'll just have to trust me, honey cabbage." Galinda had to admit, he was actually kind of sexy in a dangerous sort of way, and she knew if she were in Elphaba's position she wouldn't have hesitated this long.

"Tell you what," Elphaba bartered, "I'll kiss you after you drink the potion."

Avaric shook his head slowly, "Uh uh, I don't think so." He slid his arm low around her waist, his other hand stroking her cheek lightly. "No offense, doll, but I know a con when I see it. I take one little sip of that, and you'll be headed for the hills before I can say boo."

"Fine, one kiss…"

"On the lips," he interjected.

"…and you drink the whole glass, just to make sure."

"Works for me, but I should warn you, you might forget all about this silly little potion thing when I kiss you. Might forget your name, too," he bragged, tilting her chin up to him with a scorching look.

Fiyero interjected, "Good thing I'm here to remind her then, isn't it?" His knuckles were white as he clutched the frame of her bed to stop from beating Avaric to a pulp. Ooh, Galinda had to bite her lip at the two handsome, sexy boys fighting over her roommate. It was rather odd to have her friend at the center of a love triangle instead of herself, but she was excited for Elphie all the same.

Elphaba twitched a smile, her eyes on Fiyero. He nodded tersely, and she turned back to Avaric. "Ready when you are, kitten," he smirked, their lips now a breath apart. She took a deep breath, bit her lip, and tentatively closed the distance. It was a millisecond before she tried to pull back, but Avaric held her to him, lips caressing hers in what was obviously a very good, very hot kiss.

After a good minute or two, when Avaric still hadn't released Elphaba, Fiyero pushed him off. "Ok, that's enough."

Avaric tossed a hand through his hair, "Was it good for you, baby?"

Elphaba just glowered at him from her position against Fiyero's chest. "Just drink your potion and shut up."

"Too much for words, huh?" Avaric goaded. "That's okay. Your face says it all."

"I'm sure. Only you'll find it's disgust, not lust."

"Call it what you want, you know he'd," Avaric nodded at Fiyero, "never kiss you half that good."

Fiyero glared at that, pulling Elphaba into a fierce, electric kiss that weakened her knees. Leaning into him, Elphaba circled her arms around his neck, momentarily forgetting their audience. Fiyero brushed her hair back from her face, framing it instead with his palms, and a soft moan escaped Elphaba's throat as he guided her for incredible kiss after kiss. By the time the two regretfully broke apart, Galinda was licking her lips and Boq's jaw had dropped to around his ankles.

Fiyero and Elphaba were too busy with each other to realize that Avaric was sneaking toward the sink with the potion, so Galinda tugged at Elphaba's arm. "The potion," she hissed, pointing at Avaric. "He still hasn't drunk it."

Breathlessly, Elphaba blinked for a second to try to focus her eyes. "Huh? Oh yeah."

Fiyero followed her fuzzy gaze to see Avaric starting to tip the glass. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Avaric froze, obviously contemplating ignoring Fiyero's complaints, and it was Boq who caught the bottom of the glass, turning it back up. "Deal's a deal," he said quietly.

"What do you care munchkin?" Avaric spat him.

Boq shrugged, "I don't. But you made a deal, and Elphie's done her part." The somber look on his face lent the short boy a more imposing presence than he usually could command. Avaric rolled his eyes and with a sigh, swallowed the glassful in three large gulps.

"Happy?" he asked before a strange sickening green tone rolled through his skin. It was ironic how he matched Elphaba, only a paler version of the color. Then his body ratcheted in half, and with a whiplash maneuver that seemed beyond the realm of human motion, he hurled himself at the sink to vomit.

"Ew!" Galinda covered her ears from the sounds of his retching in disgust.

When he emerged some time later, the green tone had faded from his very pale skin into a terrifying aqua pokadots. He slumped to the ground weakly, until after a second, he leapt up with wide eyes, ripping his shirt from his body and rubbing every inch of available skin. "It itches!" he shouted wildly, trying to scratch himself on the doorframe.

His hand reached to remove his pants, and everyone broke their frozen shock to rush at him with a collective, "No!"

Elphaba tossed him a bottle from the medicine cabinet. "Here, this should help." He squeezed the thick paste over his twitching skin as quickly as he could free it from the bottle. She turned to Fiyero, "No more potions."

"But, he'll need an antidote," Fiyero pointed out.

Elphaba just shook her head. "No! All this has done from the beginning is cause trouble. No more potions."

Her face left little room for argument, and the group fell silent as Avaric squirmed trying to reach the middle of his back. "Elphie? Can you…"

"NO!" She flopped on her bed face down. The others eyed each other uneasily as they waited to see who would get stuck smearing the paste on Avaric's back. Maybe Elphie had a point.


	15. Revenge

Nessa flung open the door, fist prepared for a certain boy's face. "Boq, so help me, if you…oh. You're not Boq." She blinked at the handsome boy occupying her doorway, surprised to see someone as popular as he waiting to talk to someone like her.

"You know, I've never been confused with a munchkin before." Avaric smirked at her, and she self-consciously straightened her hair while the blush spread across her cheeks.

"What do you want?" He scratched his arm and cheek, and it was then that she noticed the strange dots coloring his skin. "Are you alright?"

"No," he sighed. "Your sister and her stupid roommate poisoned me. Lurline, if your sister wasn't so damn hot…"

"Don't swear," she replied automatically. "Wait, what are you talking about?" Avaric hated Elphaba, and how would her sister be responsible for the itchy dots swelling on his skin?

"Do you have any of that cream stuff to make it stop itching? I already used all hers." He flashed his most charming smile, and Nessa rolled her eyes in a perfect imitation of her irritable sibling.

"Fine, but you have to tell me what's going on."

He agreed, and she led him into her room to start his narrative. It was some time later when he was fully swathed in cream but no less confusing. "So you mean, Elphaba deliberately infected you with this horrid rash in order to make you stop pursuing her, which she originally poisoned you to do?" He nodded pitifully, and she shook her head. "Father always knew she would become really wicked someday. I always stood up for her, but now look what she's done."

"Careful," he warned, standing up. "She may have potioned me…several times," he smiled fondly, much to Nessa's shock, "but she's still my pretty kiwi. The only thing wicked about her is how sexy she is. Everything else is that stooge Fiyero. All those potions were his idea."

"Fiyero? But he always seemed so nice. Why would he be convincing Elphaba to poison you?"

He stared at her. "Are you serious? Eliminate the competition." At her blank look, he added, "So he can seduce Elphaba before I can….um, stop him."

Avaric may have belated added those words, but Nessa wasn't buying it. "Uh huh. Sure. Why come to me?"

He strode closer, and it was undeniable that he was a very attractive, charismatic guy. When he leaned over her, she involuntarily caught her breath. "Isn't it obvious?" he breathed, and she didn't dare blink. "Revenge."

"I…don't follow."

He leaned back considering her. "What would you say if I told you I could help you get revenge on Galinda for stealing Boq?"

Her face drained of color as her eyes slitted, and she huffed, "Who needs him? She can have the jerk." Avaric cocky smiled grew, until Nessa barked, "What?"

"Nothing. You just do that same eye twitch thing that Elphie does when she's mad. It's kind of hot, actually." The blood rushed back into her cheeks, no doubt making her look like a ridiculous ghostly clown. He slid his arm around her shoulders, gesturing with his hand in front of her as if sculpting the scene in front of her. "Imagine that little blondie who seduced Boq away from you getting a taste of her own medicine. Imagine really showing her that they messed with the wrong girl. I mean, you're a Thropp for Lurline's sake. What were they thinking treating you like that? You deserve better. Don't you want to show them – get even?"

"The Unnamed God tells us to forgive." She hoped he would believe her bristly delivery better than she did.

He tilted his head closer, still watching that imaginary picture, and whispered in her ear, "Forgiveness isn't very fun. Don't you want to be a little bad sometimes?"

After a long moment, she gave him a suspicious look, "What do you have against Galinda?"

He straightened up, the charming smile dropping away. "She's the one who made the itchy potion."

"But I thought Elphaba…?"

He shrugged, "Trust me. It's easier if you don't try to think about it."

Nessa wheeled to the window, composing what she hoped was a very blank face. "So if I was going to help you, which I'm not saying I am, what would you have in mind?"

Avaric flashed her a victorious smirk, and she wished for once she was more like her sister, stone-faced and unfathomable. He strode forward, grinning at her obvious temptation. "So here's the plan…"

* * *

­­­­

Nessa sighed as she unlocked Elphaba's door with the hidden key. Her moral compass was all over the place on this one, and between her self-rationalization and Avaric's smooth temptations, she was sure she'd regret this later. However, he had been right that it would teach Galinda a lesson, and while the Unnamed God commands forgiveness, he also commands his followers to train others to righteousness. Surely an ounce of her discomfort was worth Galinda's repentance and the eventual reconciliation of her eternal soul.

Reaffirmed as she was, it was still a relief to find the room empty. Lies would only add to her overburdened conscience. Why on earth had she let Avaric talk her into this?

Galinda's makeup was easy enough to locate, but she fought panic as she tried to figure out a way to alter them as he'd plotted. Guilt brought a twinge to her stomach, but she reminded herself that she hadn't lied. She just hadn't pointed out that little defect in the plan. Honestly, who in her place would have told the gorgeous boy flirting with her that she didn't share her sibling's strange powers? Particularly when said boy's delicious mouth was so close to her own?

Ugh, a fine mess she'd gotten herself into now. How exactly was she going to get herself out of it?

Her eyes scanned Elphaba's room for some miracle, but all she saw was a giant mess of powders and empty glasses scattered around. Honestly, when had her sister developed this revolting lack of housekeeping?

The powders! Hadn't Avaric said that they had potioned him? Surely this was the leftover supplies. She picked a few promising jars and brought them by Galinda's extensive makeup collection.

Nessa felt a stirring of guilt again. In truth, she used to really like Galinda. In fact, Galinda was the one who first encouraged Boq to go out with Nessa. But Avaric was right. Galinda had just toyed with her heart before stealing Boq back to be her disposable yesman. Boq was a great guy, but clearly Galinda viewed him (and Nessa as well) as beneath her, pawns to her whims.

With a stern set to her jaw, she mercilessly dumped the powders into a mix with various shades of eye shadow, blush, and any other mixable makeup she could find. She stirred them with her fingertips lightly, careful to wipe up the excess. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the collection, she was only able to lace half the powders before she ran out of ingredients. This only reassured her that she was right in her crusade. Surely vanity in this extreme was a sin worth intervention.

She returned the jars of affected cosmetics back to their places and sighed in relief as she wiped off a bead of sweat she hadn't even felt in her stealth.

"Elphaba?" Fiyero chose that moment to walk in, and Nessa felt an odd whoosh as the world tunneled into darkness except for the halo surrounding the handsome prince. She flushed and spun herself closer. Grabbing a handful of his shirt, she yanked him down to lay a very sound kiss on his angelic mouth.

"Hey, handsome. Where have you been all my life?"


	16. Vigilance

Galinda struggled not to let her worries wander into her forehead with their damaging wrinkles. After all Galinda had done for Elphaba, her best friend had tried to have her potioned, only to sic that creepy, inebriated Biq on her. And she'd only made it worse. Her conscience itched just thinking about poor Avaric's aqua-dots.

Surely her goodliness had saved her the first time, but after what she'd done to Avaric, she doubted she'd be as lucky the next time. Well, she would just have to rely on her super vigilance. No potion would make it past her finely honed senses now that she had her mind set on it.

Lost in thought, Galinda took a sip of her drink, only to spit it out in a frantic spray. Tobiq wiped his face off with a fierce grimace. "Oh, I'm so sorry dearest!" She rushed over to wipe at his face with her napkin, but he pulled away with a sullen pout.

"It's fine," he huffed, and Galinda fell back with a pout of her own. "Look, maybe we'd better just go back."

"But I'm having such fun with you." At his pointed look, she added, "Really. My mind's just been somewhere else."

He crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, it seems like it's always somewhere else lately."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed. "I guess that's just part of my nature. I don't mean to be so deep and brainy. I really can't help it."

"I wish I could believe you," Tobiq shook his gorgeous head sadly. "Maybe I'd better walk you back."

With all her skill at flirtation employed, she slipped her hand in his and fluttered her eyes at him. She knew she had him when he dipped down for a quick kiss. She beamed for a second, until she considered that his lips could have been potioned in order to get to her. Fiyero would know how Galinda kissed, and Elphaba could have certainly schemed such a clever strategy.

She rocketed away from him, wiping her mouth on her hand. "What did you have to drink? Are you certain no one else touched it? Or maybe it's my lip gloss! He knows how I like to reapply lip gloss after."

"Who?" Tobiq frowned. "Galinda, are you sure you're alright?"

She turned wide eyes to him and grabbed his elbows. "Do you love me Tobiq?"

He tugged at his collar uncomfortably at her sudden urgency. "Um, this is sudden."

"That's what I mean. Do you have a sudden urge to rip off all my clothes?"

"Sudden? Not really sudden…" He seemed dazed a moment before he shook his head and frowned again. "What are you talking about?"

"So you don't love me then?" She sighed with relief. "Good. Let's go. Oh, and you shouldn't frown so much. Your face is too handsome to wrinkle."

A very confused Tobiq followed her back to the dorm. Once there, he had recovered enough to take her hand. "Look, Galinda, you're a great girl and all…"

"I know, dear, but this isn't you talking." She may not have an antidote, but she could at least prevent his embarrassment.

He tilted his head, "I'm pretty sure it is." She patted him arm and shook her head with a reassuring smile. "Then who is it?"

"Fiyero of course."

His mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a moment, but Galinda turned to open the door. The sooner she got to work, the sooner she could kiss Tobiq without fear of contamination. Beaming, she threw open the door only to stare in shock. Fiyero lay on Elphaba's bed, only with Nessa lying on top of him, her hands curled around his shoulders. Galinda watched wide-eyed as Elphaba's sister kissed him square on the lips.

Fiyero caught Galinda's stare, and he struggled to free himself from Nessa's stranglehold. Nessa was reluctant to release him, something which Galinda could sympathize with considering all the skill Fiyero's lips possessed, and though he wriggled like a fish out of water, Nessa pressed hard against him until finally he untangled her arms enough to pull out of her reach. Staggering to his feet, he said, "Galinda, this isn't what it looks like."

"How dare you," Galinda's eye twitched as she crossed her arms. "After I set you up with my roommate, this is how you act? You should be ashamed!"

"No, really, it was an accident!"

Galinda scoffed, and even Tobiq winced. "That's the oldest line in the book, Fiyero. What, you tripped, and she fell on your lips?"

"I can explain, really!"

"Explain what?" Elphaba asked from behind Galinda. His eyes widened with fear, and he shook his head as if begging Galinda not to say anything.

"Fiyero kissed Nessa." Galinda glared at him again before casting a sympathetic look toward her roommate. "On the lips. On your bed."

Elphaba's face paled to an almost obscene white. "Fiyero?"

"Look, it's not what you think." He took a couple steps forward, but Elphaba held up a hand with enough intimidation to stop a stampede.

"Did you, or did you not kiss her?"

"No! She kissed me!" Elphaba turned on her heel and stalked down the hall before Galinda had a chance to stop her. "Fae, wait! Come back!"

He vanished after her, and only then did Galinda hear the "Mmph!" of Nessa trying to right herself from her position face down on the pillows from where Fiyero had escaped her grip. Galinda raced to help her up, but stopped halfway. "Tobiq, help Nessa. I have to go after Elphie." Then she froze again. What if this was a distraction to get her alone? "Or wait…um…" She shuffled a few steps to the door, then back toward Nessa, then back toward the door in the very embodiment of indecision until Tobiq grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Get a grip on yourself!" He let her go with eyes wide as she stared up at him in shock. "Ok, you know, you may be one of the most gorgeous and popular girls in school, but Oz, Galinda, you're insane! I mean, seriously, nutzo. All your friends, too. You're the craziest group of people I have ever met! I can't do this anymore. I can't handle all the cuckoo." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look, Galinda, I don't think things are going to work out between us. We're too different. You should be with someone more…tolerant. Or insane."

He turned on his heel and stormed down the hall, and Galinda raced after him. "Tobiq, wait!"

He stopped and turned halfway to look over his shoulder at her.

"What do you mean I'm 'one of' the most popular? Who's more popular than I am? Tobiq, come back!"

She turned in desperation only to catch the sight of a very attractive boy halfway in the window, and Galinda felt a sudden sinking realization as she ogled the sun-framed rump.

"Oh no!" Galinda shrieked. "They got me!"


	17. Complications

Elphaba stormed into her room and collided with a shell-shocked Galinda staring at a boy climbing backwards through their window. An odd sight, but considering the past week, hardly the weirdest she'd encountered.

She slammed the door shut right as Fiyero reached the hall. Damn him for his persistence. She couldn't handle his excuse right now, not when the image of him kissing Nessa felt permanently tattooed on her brain. She barricaded the door with whatever furniture she could drag. Knowing Fiyero, he would break the lock before giving her some peace.

"It's about time you ditched little princey boy." Her stomach dropped. Avaric.

She started dragging the furniture back away from the door.

"Where are you going?" Galinda howled, throwing her arms around her roommate. "Don't leave me, Elphie! I've been poisoned!"

"What? By whom?"

"You!" she shrieked melodramatically.

"But then wouldn't you want me to leave?" Galinda stared at her blankly for a moment until Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Never mind. I didn't potion you."

Galinda crossed her arms with a pout. "Then it must have been Fiyero. It had to be one of you two."

"How do you…" A loud bang interrupted her as the door crashed into her barricade.

Fiyero pleaded from the hallway, "Elphaba, please, this is ridiculous. Let me in so we can talk about this."

Elphaba had had enough. Fitfully, she shoved the furniture out of the way and flung the door open so fast he fell forward. "What did you do to Galinda?" she demanded.

"Galinda?" He paused. "No, not Galinda. Nessa is the one who kissed me."

She stifled a scream as she slammed the door shut again, inches from his face. He tried to push back, but Avaric crossed the room to help force the door closed again. Elphaba turned the lock and leaned her head back against the door. "Why me?" Her lament ended suddenly as Avaric leaned down to kiss her exposed throat.

"Because you're gorgeous, Gorgeous."

"Ugh!" She skittered across the room, rubbing her hand against her throat as if she could scrub away the feeling. She jumped when a pair of hands behind her reached around to help.

"You know," Galinda cooed in her ear, "you've got really soft skin." Elphaba turned around, horrified to see her roommate lick her lips seductively. "And green is a really pretty color if you think about it. It goes with nearly every season."

"Um, thanks?" She took a step back, but Galinda pounced to curl her arms around Elphaba's waist with a purr.

"And you smell so pretty!" Galinda buried her nose in Elphaba's hair and nuzzled at her neck.

"Oh, that is hot!" Avaric shouted, abandoning his post to stride over to the pair, and when Elphaba finally removed herself from her roommate, she fell backwards into his considerably more groping embrace.

Fiyero rapidly banged on the other side of the door. "Elphaba? What's going on? Who's in there? Was that Avaric? What's hot? He better keep his hands off you. Damn it, let me in!" The door shuddered with the force of impact as the lock broke, and as the door swung open, Avaric raced to force it closed again.

"Leave her alone!" Avaric grunted. "It's my turn now."

"It's not anyone's turn!" Elphaba crossed her arms in front of her chest just in time to deflect Galinda's wandering hands. "Cut it out. And stop making that sound."

Galinda breathed in her ear, "What sound?"

Elphaba pulled away with a shudder. Then she heard the muffled groan again, and she looked over to see Nessa face down on her bed, flailing. "Oh, Oz, no one helped you up?" Nessa only flopped around more anxiously. Elphaba hurried to her aid with Galinda hot on her heels. No sooner had she helped Nessa to sit up when, hurled on top of her, Galinda pinned Elphaba to the bed with Nessa squished below them.

Avaric let out a whine of frustration as he shuffled toward the girls on the bed only to push Fiyero back the inch he'd gained. Back and forth, back and forth until with a bang, Avaric managed to close the door, and he stretched to reach anything he could to hold the door.

Elphaba finally managed to extract herself from the many limbs just as another knock came at the door. "Fiyero, I mean it. Leave me alone." All she needed was another person after her.

"It's Boq. Can I come in?"

Avaric edged the door opened to peek out. Then he snapped his hand out, seized the munchkin with a fistful of his collar, and yanked him inside. Boq staggered to keep his balance as Avaric slammed the door shut again. "Elphie, what the Oz is going on?"

Elphaba sighed. "Trust me. You don't want to know." As if to punctuate her statement, Galinda managed to flop off Nessa and upright her large, poofy dress as she slid to the ground.

Boq took one look at the girl reclining on the bed and blanched. "Let me out."

As if to answer, the door slammed forward as Fiyero renewed his efforts to push his way in, and Avaric struggled to wedge it back shut. "Not gonna happen little man."

"Look she's gonna kill me if I stay here," Boq gestured wildly to the bedraggled Nessa. He grabbed for the knob, but Avaric placed a menacing hand in the center of his chest.

"_I'm_ gonna kill you if you open that door."

Fiyero called from the other side, "Open it Boq!"

"Don't do it," Elphaba shook her head, and Boq stared at her in surprise. Or rather, past her in surprise.

Galinda had finally unearthed her face from her miles of fluffy skirt to giggle and wave, "Biqy's here! Hi Biq!" His face reddened as he tore his eyes from her exposed legs and sent a terrified glance toward Nessa. She ignored him as she hurled herself into her chair.

Galinda regained her bearing and made a beeline for the munchkin.

"Oh, Biq, I love what you've done with your hair! It's so…hairy!" Boq watched in disbelief as Nessa wheeled past him without so much as a word to the blonde who was weaving her fingers through his hair.

Nessa, meanwhile, went straight for the door. "Avaric, let Fiyero in," she demanded. "I need to see him. We must declare our eternal love."

Elphaba's jaw tightened as Boq's dropped. "Did she just say what I thought she said?"

Galinda wrapped his arms around her waist with a smile. "Did you know your forehead has the cutest little wrinkles when you're confused?" He swiveled his head around to stare at her and then at each of those around me.

"Now you see what I've been dealing with," Elphaba sighed.

Nessa had resorted to wheeling over Avaric's foot as she demanded Fiyero's entry. Her words were punctuated by Avaric's grunts of pain, "Open…the door…this instant…so I…can see…my love muffin…or else!"

"No, Nessa, stop it!" Fiyero commanded from the other side. "Elphaba, don't listen to her."

"I thought you wanted to come in, darling?" Nessa froze and cooed through the door.

There was a strangled sigh. "Yes, I do, but I don't want to declare our love."

Elphaba dug her fingernails into her palm with a hissed voice. "So there is an 'our love' with you two?" She should have known. She was not the girl that anyone would choose, particularly handsome, popular Fiyero. Why had she ever allowed herself to trust him?

"No! There's not! Elphie, come on, this is craziness! Let me in."

"Why, so you can be with my sister?" She stalked away to punch away some of her frustrations into her pillow before she exploded. How had she been so wrong about him?

"No, you know I would never… Look, you're taking this all wrong. I can explain, really."

"Save it!"

Nessa spun around to glare at Elphaba. "Why are you yelling at Fiyero? Just leave him alone! Go away! You're upsetting him."

"What exactly do you expect me to do, climb out the window? And don't bother, Fiyero, it's locked now. I think we've had plenty of visitors through it already today." She spared a glare toward Avaric, and he winked.

"That's right, baby, I'm the only one for you."

"Please kill me," she sighed.

Nessa went back to seducing Fiyero through the door, and he kept shouting entreaties to Elphaba to ignore her. Elphaba just rubbed her temples.

"You know," Boq realized, "Nessa is acting an awful lot like…" He trialed off as Galinda blew in his ear and glided her lips down his neck.

Elphaba strode over to shake him loose. "What, Boq, acting an awful lot like what?"

He blinked, disoriented. "Um, like she's been potioned, too."

Elphaba launched at the door and struggled to push Avaric out of the way. There was a scuffle, during which Nessa tried to help pull Avaric away, but Avaric managed to fend them off and keep the door closed. He looped his arms around Elphaba's waist to hold her still and pressed his back against the door.

"You potioned my sister?! What, my best friend's not enough? What kind of sick bastard are you?" she shrieked, straining against Avaric's arms.

"I didn't do anything like that! You're the only girl I want!"

"Don't listen to him, baby," Avaric hissed in her ear. "He just wants to split us up."

"Please, Elphaba, you've got to listen to me," Fiyero begged from the other side.

"Why should I listen to you? You potioned my own sister!"

"I didn't! I…" Fiyero took a deep breath and adopted a cajoling tone. "Nessa, tell her. Please? Tell her the truth so she'll let me in."

Nessa turned to her sister with a pout, "Fiyero didn't give me anything." Elphaba stilled until Nessa continued, "Nothing except love. Now let him in or I'll scream until I explode."

Fiyero begged through the door, "Fae, please, _please_, believe me. I didn't give Nessa a thing. Someone else must have potioned her." Damn him for using that desperate, sincere voice that he knew would undo her. She hesitated, and as if he sensed it, he called through the door, "Nessa, who gave you a potion?"

She thought a moment, "Nobody."

"Why were you in Elphaba's room?"

"Avaric told me to. He's cute, but not like you, Fiyero. Don't worry, I would never betray our love."

Elphaba rounded on Avaric with wide eyes. "You have five seconds to explain."

"Can I get five seconds?" Fiyero complained from the doorway, but Elphaba's focus stayed with the rapidly retreating Avaric.

She pummeled his arms, "What did you do to my sister?" Avaric ran for cover behind the entwined pair of spectators, but unfortunately for him, both Boq and Galinda were quite a bit shorter. She punched him in the nose above their heads, and he raced away to find a better shelter.

With Avaric occupied, Fiyero took the opportunity to force his way in, and he caught Elphaba around the waist right as she jumped to tackle Avaric. "Elphaba, Elphaba!"

She struggled to break free, shouting, "Let me go! You better run Avaric!"

"Fabala!" She stopped struggling to glare at him, but his gaze turned soft once he had her attention. "Fae, please believe. I would never potion anyone else to fall in love with me. You're the only one I want. Ever." He ran a tender finger down her cheek to tilt her eyes up to meet his. "I love you."

She blushed, suddenly very aware of their many witnesses. "Then, who potioned Galinda?"

He shrugged. "I swear to you, I don't know. It wasn't me."

Elphaba pulled away from him and turned to Galinda. "How did you know it was either me or Fiyero?"

"Well, who else would know to potion Tobiq's lips?"

Fiyero held up his hands, "I didn't touch any guy's lips."

Elphaba crossed her arms, "Well, I didn't either!" She had a sudden thought. "Did you actually see Tobiq get potioned?" Galinda shook her head. "Did he act strangely?"

"He broke up with me!" she protested with hands on hips. "That's strange!"

"You aren't potioned."

"Oh yeah? Then why do I keep licking Boq?"

Shaking her head as if she could erase that sentence, Elphaba pressed on. "You thought you were, so you acted like it. It works like a placebo."

Galinda tilted her head, "A what?"

"A placebo."

"Huh?"

Elphaba sighed heavily, "A placenta."

"Oh!" Galinda's face flushed at the realization, "Oh. Sorry." She flew away from Boq, and the munchkin blushed to match. "Wait. So, I actually like Biq?"

"Boq."

"What?"

"It's Boq." She just stared at him. "My name. It's Boq."

Galinda shrugged, "Okay. Whatever you want dearest."

Fiyero knit his brow as he turned to Elphaba. "But didn't she flirt with…" Elphaba elbowed him and glared. That was all she needed. Fiyero stuttered a moment as Galinda blinked at him, until he recovered with, "Um, Boq, of course."

"I can't believe I did all that just because of a gazebo!"

"Um, actually," Nessa volunteered, and everyone turned to stare. "I did mix some potions into your eye shadow to get back at you for stealing Boq, though I realized at once how pathetic that was. Who would miss Boq when there's Fiyero?" She wheeled closer to the prince, who hid behind Elphaba. "As soon as he walked in, I realized Avaric was wrong."

They swung to stare at Avaric, who grimaced. "Can I borrow more of that anti-itch stuff? I think the dots are coming back." As he spoke, the dots faded back onto his skin.

"Oh my Oz! Is that what you mixed into my makeup?" Galinda howled at Nessa. "I can't look like that! Aqua doesn't match _any_ shade of pink!"

"Just throw out the ones she potioned," Boq offered.

They all turned to stare at Nessa, who at least had the decency to look ashamed. "I can't actually remember which ones I mixed. I mean, there are so many of them!"

Galinda's face drained of color. "So, you mean I have to…"

"I'm afraid so," Fiyero said. "You'll have to throw it all away."

Boq barely caught Galinda as she promptly fainted.

* * *

Elphaba tried to avoid Fiyero's eyes as they waited outside Dr. Dillamond's office. "Are you still mad at me?" he asked softly, and she shook her head. "Then why won't you talk to me?"

"I'm sorry. I should have believed you."

"Yes, you should have," he took her hand. "But I understand why you didn't. It's alright - as long as we are."

Elphaba was surprised to see the worry in his eyes. She squeezed his hand. "We're alright."

He smiled, "Alright." He leaned in and ran a finger down her cheek. "I'm glad," he whispered as he touched their foreheads together.

"I do, too," she confessed, and at his look of confusion, she added below a whisper, "love you." He beamed, and then pulled her to him in a slow kiss that melted her. She slid her hands down his chest, and he deepened the kiss, moving flush against him.

"Oh, for Oz sake, get a room," Avaric complained from the doorway.

Elphaba glared. "Why is your face still aqua?" His eyes quadrupled, and he groped at his face as if he could feel the color.

Nessa wheeled out behind him. "Oh, don't listen. You're back to normal, honey."

"Honey?" Elphaba was stunned, "Since when is 'honey' normal?"

Nessa lifted her chin in her mask of affront. "We're dating. And I'd thank you not to torment my boyfriend." She made way for Boq and Galinda, hand in hand.

"Feeling better?" Fiyero asked.

"Boq says I still look pretty, even though I had to take off my makeup." Galinda took in their tense faces and burst into tears. "I look awful!"

"No, you don't," Elphaba slid her arm around her. "We're just so used to seeing all that gunk on your face, it takes some getting used to."

"Really?" she blubbered, and Elphaba nodded. "I look pretty?"

"Gorgeous," Boq assured her, and she brightened at once.

"Oh. Okay then."

Dr. Dillamond stepped out into the hallway. "I trust this is the last time I will have to correct any stray magic potions from you all. You should be ashamed." He looked at each in turn. "Imaginary love potions. Self-administered courage potions. Prank potions. Truth potions. Itchy antidotes. Revenge potions. Honestly. When will young people learn that magic is not a toy?"

Elphaba and the others stared at the ground, chastised. He was right. They had behaved like stupid children.

"I'm not surprised it backfired on you, so many ridiculous excuses for potions. Next time you want to fix a problem, just leave it alone. You can't make someone love you, or not love you. You're lucky someone didn't get hurt. I mean, honestly! Love isn't some toy!" He shook his head and continued muttering, "Potions!" to himself as he stormed away.

They sat in shocked silence for a moment, until Galinda said, "But at least something good came of all this craziness. I mean, you two _finally_ got together."

Elphaba blushed, "What do you mean?"

"Oh please," Galinda rolled her eyes. "You two were dancing around each other forever."

Before Elphaba could protest, Nessa added, "And Avaric and I discovered our hidden love. We'll be together forever."

Five minutes later, Avaric had some blonde on his lap, kissing her noisily. Nessa rolled her eyes, "Ooh, who's that? I think he's in my Animal Sciences class. He did lend me that pencil once. Excuse me." She wheeled after him, "Oh, Tobiq!"

Boq shook his head. "No offense, Elphie, but your sister is kind of creepy."

Fiyero took Elphaba's hand as the two couples headed toward the cafeteria. "They never would have lasted anyway, Avaric and Nessa."

Galinda bobbled her head. "Avaric was never one for monogramming."

"You mean, monogamy?"

"Whatever." Galinda beamed suddenly, "Unless…I've heard there's a potion…"

"No!" They all said in unison, and Elphaba added, "No more potions!"

"Okay, okay. Just a thought."


End file.
